From January 21st to 28th, it is National Passenger Safety Week. 

9,000 passengers are killed every year in car crashes around the country, accounting for 24% of all traffic fatalities. 

This National Passenger Safety Week, if passengers feel unsafe, Director of Public Relations at the National Road Safety Foundation David Reich encourages one thing... speak up. 

"The way to be effective in speaking up is to say, listen, you're making me nervous the way you're driving. And also I care about you. So I don't want either one of us to get hurt," Reich said. 

Impairment and speeding each made up 25% of all fatal crashes in New York state last year. 

Reich says one of the biggest reasons people don't speak up is not wanting to be seen as a backseat driver. 

"Don't worry about being considered a backseat driver because it's your life at stake and the driver and whoever else is in the car," Reich said. 

According to a traveler's insurance survey last year, 80% of drivers admitted they have used their cell phones while driving, including 57% checking their texts.

Reich suggests lending an extra hand to get the driver away from those distractions. 

"If you're a passenger in a car and the driver is doing any of those things, you have to call him or her out and say, 'Hey, you know, don't do it. Let me if you want, give me the phone. I'll respond to that text', Reich said. 

If one is interested in more tips on speaking up, one can visit the National Passenger Safety Board.