AUSTIN -- According to the Texas Department of Transportation, Nov. 7, 2000, was the last deathless day on Texas roads.
In an effort to put an end to the streak, TxDOT recently announced its campaign #EndTheStreakTX to raise awareness and educate people on safe driving habits.
Over the past 22 years, 79,000 lives have been lost to preventable fatal crashes. For the past several years, about 10 people have died every day in crashes across the state.
In the Atlanta District alone, which includes Bowie, Cass, Camp, Harrison, Marion, Morris, Panola, Titus and Upshur counties, 134 people died in fatal crashes in 2021.
Heather Deaton, public information officer for the Atlanta District, said the leading causes of deadly crashes in 2021 in this district were unsafe speed, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and distracted driving.
"We need to do something to change this," Texas Transportation Commissioner Laura Ryan said during a zoom call with news media Thursday. "We need to be a part of the solution, and TxDOT needs help in doing this."
For the first time in the agency's history of analyzing fatal crashes, experts from TxDOT spoke with a psychology professor to dig deeper into the driver behavior. In an interview, Dr. Art Markman from the University of Texas alluded to an erosion of community that can be a cause for an increase in traffic fatalities.
"We have to remind people that they are part of a community," Markman said in a news release. "We have to start considering everyone as part of our community. If we don't do that, there are going to be all sorts of negative consequences, and those are going to include negative consequences on the road."
Ryan said every Texan must do their part. And while the goal of ending the deadly streak is ambitious, Ryan says it is far from impossible.
"With the knowledge that, since the pandemic, people don't seem to view others around them as part of a community, and that they care less about those around them, we are starting to identify the problem," she said. "If we know there is a problem and we can identify that a big part of the problem is a lack of caring or apathy, then we also know the solution: We must care more about those around us."
She said the approach to reaching zero deaths must be through what TxDOT calls the 3 E's: engineering, education and enforcement.
TxDOT is asking all Texans to do any or all the following to raise awareness:
• Make the best and safest decisions behind the wheel: Don't drive under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, always obey traffic laws, and always wear your seatbelt.
• Post pictures on social media displaying the hashtag #EndTheStreakTX.
• Share personal stories on social media of loved ones who have been lost in a crash and use the hashtag #EndTheStreakTX.