WSP Warns Drivers: Secure Your Load

WASHINGTON — It is Secure Your Load week from October 19 - 23 and the Washington State Patrol is marking the occasion by reminding everyone to fasten up every time you haul a load.

It's fall and many people are cleaning up their homes as they prepare for the winter, but that just means it's extra important to secure everything you might be hauling around: from boxes full of goods going into winter storage, to Christmas trees when the holidays roll around.

As WSP is reminding drivers, an unsecured load can be a dangerous, even deadly problem if whatever you're hauling flies off and into the roadway. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that road debris from unsecured loads caused more than 50,000 crashes, 9,000 injuries, and 125 deaths each year in America. In Washington alone, WSP investigated 154 collisions caused by unsecured loads in 2019.

Beyond just wanting to keep our roads safe, securing you load also means avoiding a pricey fine. In Washington state, if an unsecured load falls from your car and hurts anyone, you could face a fine of up to $5,000 and even spend time behind bars. In 2019, WSP troopers contacted more than 7,300 motorists for failing to secure their vehicles' load.

As WSP says, it isn't that hard to do the right thing:

"All of this can be prevented if everyone takes the time to properly secure all loads before heading out on the road. It only takes a few minutes and some basic supplies. Tarp it, tie it, or strap it are just a few of the ways to keep our roadways safe and looking beautiful."

And as a final bonus, it also reduces litter. In 2019, programs funded by the Washington State Department of Ecology picked 4.8 million pounds of litter off of 22,904 miles of state road. They say much of that litter could be avoided if everyone just buckled down everything they were transporting.

Read more from the Department of Ecology.