National Secure Your Load Day

SANTA FE  (KSMX)- June 6 is National Secure Your Load Day, a traffic safety campaign to encourage drivers to secure cargo with tie-down straps and a covering because unsecured loads can litter roadways or cause crashes, serious injuries or death to other drivers.

New Mexico law requires drivers to secure their loads or face a $300 fine for littering on state highways.

Per the press. release, unsecured loads caused 683 deaths, more than 19,000 injuries and more than 90,000 traffic incidents nationwide in 2016 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Material that falls from vehicles makes up about half of the debris littering roads, adding to the public cost of roadside litter pick-up. Last year, the New Mexico Department of Transportation accrued nearly 80,000 labor hours picking up road debris at a cost of $2.5 million with an additional 21 hours and $330,000 spent on inmate labor costs.

Life-saving precautions include:

• Don’t rely on the weight of a load to hold it in place
• Use rope, straps or cords to tie loads down to the vehicle or trailer.
• Cover the load with a sturdy tarp or netting, especially when hauling loose material like branches, logs or miscellaneous objects
• Don’t overload the vehicle or trailer
• Make sure your load is secure enough to prevent shifting