National Passenger Safety Week Campaign Encourages Passengers to Speak Up for Safety on the Road

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Jan 14, 2026, 08:52 ET

Don't worry about being a 'back-seat driver' when it comes to saving lives, experts say

NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Passengers can make a difference in reducing the number of devastating traffic crashes by speaking up when in a vehicle being driven unsafely. That's the message from some 70 traffic safety organizations during National Passenger Safety Week, January 19-2.

The campaign was initially launched by We Save Lives and The National Road Safety Foundation, two non-profit groups whose focus is on highway safety. Other lead organizations in this year's campaign are Impact Teen Drivers and the Kiefer Memorial Foundation.

For the fourth consecutive year, National Passenger Safety Week encourages passengers to "SPEAK UP" when their lives are in danger due to a reckless driver, especially when they witness any of the four most frequent and persistent behavioral safety factors in fatal crashes:

People in motor vehicles not wearing seat belts
Driving while impaired from alcohol
Speeding
Distracted driving

In 2024, 40,901 people died in crashes on American roads and highways, including 11,302 unbuckled passengers. Alcohol-impaired crashes killed 13,524 people, speed was a factor in 11,775 fatalities and an estimated 3,308 people were killed in crashes that involved distracted drivers.

Passengers accounted for 24 percent of passenger vehicle fatalities nationwide in 2023, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

National Passenger Safety Week highlights the critical role passengers play in roadway safety and encourages them to challenge unsafe driving behaviors. The campaign's Courage to Intervene Promise serves as a guiding pledge:

Stop drivers from driving buzzed, drunk, or drugged.
Refuse to ride with impaired drivers.
Discourage drivers from using cell phones while driving.
Intervene to prevent unsafe driving, prioritizing safety for everyone on the road.

"Speaking up can prevent tragedies on the road," said Michelle Anderson, director of operations at The National Road Safety Foundation, a non-profit founded more than 60 years ago to promote safe driving behavior through education. "When it comes to saving lives, we want people to know it's ok to be a 'back-seat driver.'"

"I had to learn how to speak up when I became a full-time passenger," said We Save Lives founder Candace Lightner, a leading traffic safety advocate since 1980, when her 13-year-old daughter Cari was killed by a repeat-offender drunk driver. "One in four people killed in crashes are passengers. Their lives are literally on the line every time they step into a vehicle. We need to stop worrying about being an anxious passenger or a busybody, but to instead ask if we love ourselves enough to speak up."

More than 60 traffic safety and advocacy groups nationwide will encourage passengers to SPEAK UP with a campaign that will include a nationwide media blitz, social media outreach and involvement from groups including the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents traffic safety offices in all 50 states, the National Safety Council and youth advocacy groups SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and FCCLA, with more than 600,000 student members.

The campaign includes distribution of materials about how to speak out, scripts and videos giving examples of when and how to SPEAK UP, and calls for people to sign the "Courage to Intervene" promise.

Visit nationalpassengersafety.org for more information and to sign the Courage to Intervene promise.

The National Road Safety Foundation, founded in 1962, produces free videos and teaching materials on distracted driving, speed and aggression, impaired driving, drowsy driving, driver proficiency, pedestrian safety and a host of other safety issues. It also sponsors contests to engage teens in promoting safe driving to their peers and in their communities, partnering nationally with youth advocacy groups and with major auto shows in Chicago and Detroit.

We Save Lives, founded by in 2014 by Candace Lightner, is an umbrella organization of more than 50 highway safety advocates, law enforcement agencies, companies, local, state, national and international organizations, victim's/survivor groups, and others who want to stop the carnage on our highways. She also founded MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) in 1980.