Transportation officials at the state and national level have declared Tuesday, June 6 to be Secure Your Load Day.
Whether using rope, bungee cords or tie-downs, safety experts say they want drivers to know the problem is easy to prevent.
Nationally, between 2011 and 2014, there were 500 deaths and 39,000 injuries as a result of road debris.
Last year, KIRO 7 reporter Jeff Dubois met Heidi Coffee, whose husband Gavin was killed in 2006, when a shelving unit fell out of a pickup on I-5.
Gavin Coffee's car was T-boned after the debris fell out of a construction truck.
The driver of that truck was the first to be charged under a Washington law that boosted the penalties for driving with an unsecured load.
It's called Maria's Law, named for Maria Federici, who was blinded and nearly killed in 2004 when a piece of particle board smashed through her windshield in Bellevue.
Under Maria's Law, drivers can face up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine if an unsecured load causes an injury.
Cox Media Group
