Stepped-up patrol efforts help save lives
In 2008 all across the country, traffic accident deaths declined. Some states attribute this decline to fewer people driving due to the high cost of fuel.
However, highway patrol chiefs, traffic safety directors and independent experts believe other factors should be taken into consideration.
According to some officials, the "Click It or Ticket" and the "Over the Limit Under Arrest" campaigns and the increased number of violations as a result, may having a cumulative effect in several states.
Pam Fischer, the director of the Division of Highway Traffic Safety in New Jersey, where traffic accident deaths numbers dropped to 18% in 2008, believes that drivers are getting the message and police are more visible.
The US Department of Transportation reported that in 2008, 83% of car drivers and passengers wore their seatbelts. This is the highest number ever reported.
Some law enforcement authorities believe that the number of traffic accident deaths fell because of targeted enforcement, more attention being paid to younger drivers and the relationship between state and local police.
AAA says that motorcycle helmet laws, tougher laws for licensing younger drivers and allowing the police to stop drivers who are not wearing seat belts can also reduce the number of traffic deaths.
According to David Harkey, the directory of the Highway Safety Research Center at the University of North Carolina says that these efforts need to be studied more in order to correlate them with lower traffic accident deaths.
In Illinois, traffic accident fatalities dropped 16% in 2008, the lowest level since 1923. A dramatic drop in teen traffic accident deaths were cited as being the cause of the decline. Michael Stout, the director of the Division of Traffic Safety at the Illinois Department of Transportation credits the education and money put into traffic safety programs. In 2008 teen traffice deaths number 92, down from 155 in 2007.
