DUI Tragedy on I-70: "We've had to carry on"  The terrible results of drunk driving, and one family's story of love, devotion, and courage.

The Road Beacon - The Voice for Motor Vehicle, Highway and Driving Safety

The Road Beacon is a 501C3 non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of motor vehicle, highway and driving safety. Our goal is to help reduce motor vehicle crash fatalities and injuries and show compassion to the families and friends who have lost loved ones in these road crashes. Over 3,000,000 people have died on U.S. roads. Over 42,000 die each year. We do our part to reduce this terrible tragedy. Our national publication discusses the issues of the day. We promote the creation of state and national memorials to remember those who have died and to serve as focal points for continued road safety initiatives (see below). We do studies on current safety issues.

We believe our road system is very important to the economic vitality of our country. The system also needs to be safer because of the loss of lives every year. This same system connects America. Because of this connectivity, when we plan, maintain and develop this road system everyone and every institution must be involved.

Our publication, The Road Beacon, is mailed to our 1,650 readers.  Our readers consist of members of Congress and state legislatures, The White House, departments of transportation, state and local police chiefs, governors and mayors offices, traffic engineers, urban planners, professors involved in transportation, and the newspaper media.

For your convenience we have published most of the articles from the August, 2008 edition of The Road Beacon. Chief John R. Batiste, Washington State Patrol, is featured. For our April, 2008 edition we featured  Dennis Christiansen, Agency Director, Texas Transportation Institute. You may also find articles from the December, 2007 edition of The Road Beacon. This edition features an interview with Herbert London, President, Hudson Institute.The August, 2007 edition features an interview with Christopher Murphy, Chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Chief John R. Batiste, Washington State Patrol

Did You Know?

1. The Road Beacon was the first safety organization to promote the creation of state memorials and a national memorial to remember all who have died in U.S. vehicle vehicle crashes (see photos below).

2. We played a role in promoting official roadside memorials.

3. We helped bring to the attention of legislators and manufacturers the potential safety danger involving vehicle incompatibility. We pointed out the dangers involving vehicles where their excessive vertical height would penetrate the passenger compartment of another vehicle. We completed a study on the effectiveness of the Click It or Ticket program.

4. We support an increase of the federal and state fuel tax. Current revenues are not keeping up with our transportation system needs. We promote full funding of our road system which includes construction, maintenance, new design, research and engineering,traffic enforcement, traffic safety, intelligent traffic systems, traffic noise abatement, and planning. An efficient and safe transportation system contributes to the economy and our well-being.

5. We promote land conservation, preservation, and restoration. We encourage including road transportation history in high school textbooks.

6. New toll lanes and toll roads are part of our overall transportation strategy. We are concerned, though, that toll roads and toll lanes can discriminate financially against the poor, near-poor and the lower middle income class. Once a toll road or toll lane has been built and the construction bonds are paid off, we believe tolls should be eliminated unless tolls are kept at an affordable price for these income groups.  High tolls are discriminatory towards the poor, near-poor, and the lower middle income classes.

7. Did you know that worldwide over 1,000,000 people die every year in vehicle related crashes? We review worldwide attempts to reduce this number.  Once a year we share a summary of some of the success stories with our readers. 

The Road Beacon will promote safety from the local, state, national and even the international level. We do this because we care about the people of our country and the world. During this safety promotion we may bring up controversial subjects and even promote ideas that may seem contrary to the current "norm".  We do this because we believe safety is not solely about asphalt, concrete, safety programs and enforcement, but it is also about the communities, the states, our country and the world we live in. Sometimes change involves an initial discomfort because new ideas seem radical at "first glance". Transportation and traffic safety officials and legislators, though, never hesitate to adopt new ideas, even if there is discomfort at first, if the ideas can be used to save lives and reduce injuries on our roads and get traffic moving.

The Road Beacon Remembrance Award - April, 2008 The sun dial at Sunset Point, forty miles north of Phoenix, Arizona, was built to honor employees of the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) who lost their lives in state service. We aren’t sure exactly whose idea it was to have an employee monument honoring them, but the idea evolved from several conversations from several employees of ADOT.“Sunset Point, which is the most popular rest area in the ADOT system, was chosen as the location because it was such a beautiful site, and because so many people knew the site,” said Bill Williams, a public information officer for ADOT. “The overlook seemed a particularly nice place because of the views.” There was a contest within ADOT for the design idea. “Several design ideas were submitted, and the ‘Sun Dial’ was chosen as the winning design because it was an enduring symbol and a timeless “message,” said Williams.The memorial was installed in summer 1997. On the Gnomon (the blade that stands vertically to create the shadow on the base below): “As the sun sets over our fallen companions, may they always be remembered……” On the base of the sundial: “A sundial is a living object. It needs no winding and is driven by no weight. It has something to say and it says it. It speaks about time never ceasing to recall the flight of time, its tragedy and irreversibility for men. The thoughts arise of earth, and the end of everything, of eternity, of the world beyond…..”Our thanks to Bill Williams, Public Information Officer, Arizona Department of Transportation

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet First in the U.S. - Kentucky is the first state to create a state memorial dedicated to those who have died on Kentucky roads. The memorial serves as a reminder that Kentucky remembers those who died. It is a way for the Kentucky government and people to pay their respect to the surviving family members and friends. The state memorial also serves as a focus for future safety initiatives.

Support continues to grow for the creation of a national memorial, a memorial that will remember the over 3,000,000 people who have died in U.S. road crashes, pay respect to the surviving family members and friends, and serve as a focal point for continued and renewed traffic safety efforts.                                            Many questions remain unanswered regarding the memorial. Who will lead the effort to create the memorial? What organization will be allowed to financially sponsor the building of the memorial. Who will serve on the committee to recommend the design of the memorial, and which city or state will host the actual location of the memorial. And finally, what will the memorial look like? What do you envision?  If you have an interest in the creation of a national memorial please contact us at roadbeacon@aol.com. You can be instrumental in showing the surviving family members and friends, who number in the tens of millions, that this country cares.

The Delaware Highway Memorial Garden was dedicated in 2007. This garden provides a peaceful and beautiful setting devoted to those who have lost their lives on Delaware roads. Located at the Smyrna Rest Area, the 11,000 square foot garden has a pathway lined with bricks engraved with the names of those who died. The slogan for the garden is "Our Garden of Love, Peace, Healing and Remembrance".

Jessica Whitehouse, Muhlenberg High School, Kentucky, was the first place winner (age 14-17) in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's 2007 Adopt-A-Highway poster contest