Do you have an interest in any aspect of traffic safety including: Seat Belt Safety, Alcohol/Impaired Driving, Child Safety Seats, Motor Carrier Safety, Aggressive Driving Issues, Corporate Traffic Safety, Distracted Driving Issues, Senior Drivers, Military Driving Issues, Traffic Safety Legislation, Novice Driving Issues, and Other Traffic Safety Topics? Become part of this action-oriented organization.
Membership is open to anyone interested in preventing death and injury on our highways. Join Drive Safe HR
High School Seat Belt Challenge
Get It Together High School Seat Belt Challenge is a program led by Drive Safe Hampton Roads and supported by other traffic safety groups. Local high schools compete to raise students’ awareness of the importance of wearing seat belts every time they ride in a vehicle.
Participants use a variety of strategies to encourage their fellow students to “Buckle Up!” Tactics included pledge drives during lunch bells and having the Grim Reaper “take” a student every 15 minutes during the school day. Other efforts include making buckle up videos and developing cheers to be used at sporting events.
The Get It Together Challenge has positively influenced the traffic safety habits of over 850,000 students in Hampton Roads.
Old, Used, Borrowed and Abused Child Safety Seat Round-up
Old, Used, Borrowed and Abused Child Safety Seat Round-up began in February 1989. Drive Safe HR, along with their community partners — AAA Tidewater Virginia, Walmart, DMV's Virginia Highway Safety Office, Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters, WVEC TV-13, and Hoffman Beverage — team up with the community to remove old, used, borrowed, and abused child safety seats.
During the month of February, Hampton Roads residents can drop off their worn out child safety seats at all Southside and Peninsula Walmart Supercenters, Hampton Roads area DMV Customer Service Centers, and AAA offices on the Southside and Peninsula. Walmart provides a $5 reward for each safety seat by giving gift cards to those who turn in their safety seats. The materials from the old safety seats are recycled in an effort to help save the environment. This legacy program has been held every year for over 32 years with over 17,000 old, used, borrowed and abused seats recycled.
Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Appreciation Day
Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Appreciation Day is an event that brings Drive Safe Hampton Roads and Hampton Roads’ law enforcement motor carrier teams together to distribute goodies during an “alternate type” of roadway safety regulation stop. These events are held at the beginning of the busy winter and summer season to promote highway safety.
Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Appreciation Day began on the Southside in 1993.
This year the Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Appreciation Day will be held at the I-664 Monitor Merrimac Tunnel Inspection Station in Suffolk, VA.
Impaired Driving Prevention Events
Impaired Driving Prevention events include programs to educate the public regarding the dangers of driving impaired, such as alcohol/drug use, under-age drinking, aggressive driving, fatigued, and distracted driving. Members also participate in 757 Sober Ride and Virginia's Checkpoint Strikeforce, a multi-jurisdictional program in Virginia to combat drunk driving.
The Intoxiclock® is an interactive tool used to demonstrate visually how drinking different types and amounts of alcoholic beverages raises a person’s Blood Alcohol Concentration (B.A.C.) given their weight, gender and drinking pattern and the time it takes for the body to metabolize that alcohol. Drive Safe Hampton Roads uses this interactive tool at conferences, festivals, and company related events.
John T. Hanna Awards
In 1991, (30 years) Concerned Citizens Advocating Traffic Safety instituted the John T. Hanna Awards. Named after Virginia’s “Father of Transportation Safety” these awards honor those who share Mr. Hanna’s tireless dedication and commitment to improving traffic safety on Virginia's highways.
John T. Hanna remains the cornerstone of transportation safety, as we know it today. The unparalleled zeal for safety that hallmark his career is an inspiration to every parent police officer, judge teacher and citizen who is committed to saving lives through traffic safety.
Many people and organizations in Hampton Roads are doing tremendous work in the fight to reduce death and injury on our highways. You are invited to submit nominations to recognize outstanding traffic safety advocates - The JOHN T. HANNA Awards: Recognizing Traffic Safety Excellence in Hampton Roads.
