National Passenger Safety Week: Speak up, it could save lives

JACKSON, Tenn. — It’s National Passenger Safety Week. This is the most important week in the year for the safety of auto passengers.

Passengers can make the difference in reducing the number of devastating traffic crashes by speaking up when in a vehicle being driven unsafely. That’s the message from dozens of traffic safety organizations nationwide during National Passenger Safety Week, which is recognized January 20-27, 2025.

The campaign was initially launched by We Save Lives and the National Road Safety Foundation, two nonprofits whose focus is on highway safety.

For the third year in a row, National Passenger Safety Week empowers passengers to “speak up” when their lives are in danger due to a reckless driver, especially when they witness any of the three most frequent and persistent behavioral safety factors in fatal crashes.

“The biggest one, of course, is recognizing when the driver is under the influence; and therefore, unsafe to drive the vehicle. So speaking up against impaired driving, not getting in the vehicle with an impaired driver, or reassuring that the driver has another way of getting home,” said .

Distracted driving is also on the list, as an estimated 3,308 people were killed in crashes that involved distracted drivers, and 289,310 were injured in 2022; advocates believe the total number of victims is even higher.

Passengers accounted for 24% of passenger vehicle fatalities nationwide in 2020, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

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