North Carolina DMV – This Week at NCDOT: Captain Etheridge Bridge and Rural Road Safety

This Week at NCDOT: Captain Etheridge Bridge and Rural Road Safety by
RALEIGH – The following are highlights from this week at the N.C. Department of Transportation. The stories below are also featured in NCDOT Now, the department’s weekly newscast. Captain Etheridge Bridge Dedication On Tuesday, the department honored an important individual in the state’s history who saved the lives of many off North Carolina’s coast. Dare County Community members and officials came together to dedicate the new Pea Island interim bridge to Captain Richard Etheridge. After overcoming slavery and the Civil War, he lead an all African American crew, stationed at the Pea Island life-saving station, starting in 1880. Thanks to his rigorous training drills, the crew saved countless lives off the coast of the Outer Banks. This included the schooner E.S. Newman, which got beached during a hurricane. Etheridge and his crewmen put themselves at great risk, fighting through the waves 10 times, to save all lives on the ship. People traveling on N.C. 12 can now remember his dedication and service when crossing over the “Captain Richard Etheridge Bridge.” Rural Road Safety Initiatives The N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program, North Carolina State Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies have kicked off efforts to reduce fatalities on rural roadways in an initiative called Survive the Drive. This campaign focuses on getting drivers to follow the speed limit and not drive distracted while on secondary roads. The target areas are five counties with high fatality and crash rates: Cleveland, Harnett, Johnston, Sampson and Randolph. In the last five years, there were 1,154 fatalities due to speeding on our state’s highways, while an additional 482 people died because of distracted driving. Community leaders on a new task force recently met in Robeson County to begin tackling their high rates of vehicle crashes. The county ranks as the deadliest in the state for crashes. As part of the N.C. Vision Zero initiative, this is the first such countywide effort in the state to reduce highway deaths. To learn how you can get involved, visit NCVisionZero.org. ***NCDOT***

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