The Virginian-Pilot
©
When the number of people killed in crashes statewide reached 1,026 in 2007, law enforcement officials and state agencies vowed to do something about it.
A Department of Motor Vehicles report released today shows their efforts might have made a difference.
The report shows a 20 percent decline in deaths in 2008, with 821 crash deaths across the state. The progress seems to have taken hold, said DMV spokeswoman Melanie Stokes.
“The best part is that we’re seeing that decline continue in ’09 and that is very encouraging,” Stokes said.
From Jan. 1 to July 15 this year, 386 people have died in crashes. That's 64 fewer than during the same time period in 2008, Stokes said.
Transportation and law enforcement officials believe an increase in seatbelt usage among the state’s 5.3 million drivers contributed to the decline last year, Stokes said. Increased education efforts combined with fewer people on the road because of the economy and increased enforcement also helped.
A statewide survey in May showed that 82 percent of drivers were using their seatbelts, Stokes said. That was up from a similar survey in October that showed that a little more than 80 percent of drivers were buckled up.
By comparison, Stokes added, a survey in 2003 showed that 74 .6 percent of drivers used their belts.
Officials believe education and enforcement were the other major contributing factors to the decline in fatalities last year.
Federal highway safety grants have provided funding for police overtime and for commercials that warn drivers about checkpoints and extra patrols. The funds also helped to pay for additional equipment such as radar guns and blood-alcohol testing kits.
Law enforcement officials realized at the start of the summer 2007 that they could see the potential for a record number of fatalities that year and pledged to find ways to reduce the number.
Enforcement campaigns such as "Click It or Ticket" and "Checkpoint Strikeforce" were announced to warn the public to be cautious on the roads, especially during the holidays. Those campaigns, often advertised on road signs and TV commercials, have become familiar to drivers.
And the sight of all those extra officers on the street seemed to prompt drivers to “turn the cell phone off, slow down and give the brakes a tap,” Stokes said.
“We want everyone to remain vigilant,” Stokes said. “There is not an acceptable number of fatalities except zero.”
To read the report and to view reports from previous years, click here.
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Gee, do you think??
Before anyone breaks their arms patting themselves on the back, do you think maybe the spike in gasoline prices in 2008 might have had something to do with it?
That's a promising statistic, but
before I break out the champaign, I'd like to know if overall traffic accidents and the number of traffic accident-related injuries also fell 20% between 2007 and 2008.
I'd also like to know what were the total vehicular miles driven in 2007, compared with 2008.
How can anyone just take one statistic, and run with it as proof that our rulers and their minions are changing the driving habits of the NASCAR-wannabees, wild-eyed soccer Moms and cell phone yackers in Virginia.
Big deal, Cycling fatalities Doubled!
While overall fatalities went down 20%, cycling fatalities went from 7 to 14, 100% or double. I guess that means drivers are avoiding other drivers and going after cyclists!
Stay on topic here...
But, since you brought it up, from "The Wash Cycle", a cycling advocacy group seems to indicate much ado about nothing, and that "blame" is shared:
The NHTSA released the latest Traffic Safety Facts report and bicycle fatalities were up 2 percent. The Post has a statement from Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists; "While the increase is regrettable, it hasn't set off any alarm bells," Clarke said. "We're not in the same situation as the motorcycle community, where there's been a steady increase. A lot of news reports last year pointed to empirical evidence that cycling was on the rise. So if bicycling miles doubled and deaths went up by 2.1% then that might be a good sign." Over one-fourth (31%) of the pedalcyclists killed had a BAC of .01 g/dL or higher, and nearly one-fourth (25%) had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher.
Topic is the same
Your referring to statistics from a national study. This is from the VDOT study. In the 2007 and 2008 VA statistics, over 90% of the incidents involving cyclists, the cyclist was neither impaired physically or by alcohol. In over a third of the cycling accidents the cyclist received no citation.
So, the cyclist involved was healthy, sober and in compliance with the laws of the state yet was injured or killed. Oh, and again, the rate of fatalities went up 100%. What does that tend to tell you?
Drivers are paying less attention to the road and cyclists are dying for it.
OK
Personally, I prefer the national study since it is a much larger sample size and therefore more statistically reliable as a model. But, to comment to your observation and paraphrase Mr. Clarke's observation as a cycling advocate..."So if bicycling miles doubled and deaths went up by [100%] then that [is logical]."
To state a certain percentage change as a meaningful scientific measurement, you must consider the sample size, and other variables, such as number of cyclists, miles per year, accident locations, mitigating factors, etc, to normalize the data. That data is also largely missing from this article - a 20% reduction due to a 20% reduction in driven miles is (IMO) likely the most significant contributor, more than any law enforcement "campaign."
SO??
"In over a third of the cycling accidents the cyclist received no citation"
So, in almost 2/3rds the cyclist DID get a citation.
Of the third who did not, that does not mean they were not at fault. Troopers rarely give a ticket to someone who has been killed or seriously injured and many people involved in such accidents are.
Your own statistic supports the belief that in the cast majority of such accidents, the cyclist was at least partially at fault.