Chattanooga sees reduction in traffic fatalities

With the number of traffic fatalities up nationwide, memorial crosses like this one placed at the site of an East Brainerd crash may become more commonplace. But Chattanooga has actually seen a decrease in such deaths.
With the number of traffic fatalities up nationwide, memorial crosses like this one placed at the site of an East Brainerd crash may become more commonplace. But Chattanooga has actually seen a decrease in such deaths.

Traffic deaths in Chattanooga

2016: 14 year to date2015: 35 total, 25 as of Aug. 23, 2015Source: Chattanooga Police Department

Traffic fatalities nationwide were up 9 percent in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year, continuing a surge in deaths that began two years ago as the economy improved and travel picked up, according to the National Safety Council.

An estimated 19,100 people were killed on U.S. roads from January through June, said the council, a congressionally chartered nonprofit that gets its data from state authorities. That's 18 percent more than two years ago at the six-month mark. About 2.2 million people also were seriously injured in the first half of this year.

The council estimates the cost of these deaths and injuries at about $205 billion.

At that rate, annual deaths could exceed 40,000 fatalities this year for the first time in nine years, the council said. More than 35,000 people were killed on U.S. roads last year, making it the deadliest driving year since 2008, when more than 37,000 were killed.

"Our complacency is killing us," said Deborah A.P. Hersman, the safety council's president and CEO. "Americans should demand change to prioritize safety actions and protect ourselves from one of the leading causes of preventable death."

In Chattanooga, traffic fatalities are much lower at this point in the year than they were in mid-2015, according to Chattanooga police. So far, 14 people have been killed in traffic incidents this year, compared to 25 at this point last year.

In all of 2015, 35 people were killed in traffic incidents. Lt. David Gibb credits the dip in fatalities this year to a new enforcement effort that encourages patrol officers to focus on the city's most dangerous intersections. The department began the effort in March.

Police picked focus locations based on the number of overall crashes, serious injury crashes, drug- or alcohol-related crashes and fatal crashes, and asked patrol officers to pay special attention to those spots.

"We're inserting a lot more officers on the street to do enforcement," Gibb said. "Visibility is a big key for us this year."

In the 12-county district that includes Chattanooga, fatalities are down by 19 compared to this point last year, said Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. John Harmon.

"We're the only district in the state that have reduced fatalities this year," he said. "Every other district is up in fatalities except Chattanooga."

Traffic fatalities in the entire state of Tennessee are up 15 percent this year over the first half of 2015, according to the council.

"While many factors likely contributed to the [national] fatality increase, a stronger economy and lower unemployment rates are at the core of the trend," the council said in a statement. Another likely factor: Average gas prices for the first six months of this year were 16 percent lower than in 2015.

Historical data show that after peaking in the 1970s, traffic deaths have generally trended downward, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Large dips in deaths have corresponded to shocks to the economy - the oil embargo of the mid-1970s, the recessions of the early 1980s and early 1990s and the more recent downturn that began in late 2007 with the subprime mortgage crisis.

During the Great Recession triggered by the housing crisis, the number of miles Americans put on the road each year plunged and fatalities dropped to levels not seen since Harry Truman was president.

The council's tallies of traffic fatalities differ slightly from those of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because the council includes motor vehicle deaths that take place in parking lots, driveways and other nonpublic roadways.

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