Traffic deaths dropping

Authorities say slumping economy, not improved driving, is saving lives

During 20 years as a state Highway Patrol trooper in Wake County, Beckley Vaughan has notified hundreds of families about the deaths of loved ones in wrecks.

He remembers every single one. And every time, he gets a bad feeling in his stomach and a lump in his throat as he pulls into the driveway. He knows that what he says next will change the family's life. Forever.

"None of us want to do it," he said.

Law enforcement officers across the state had fewer families to notify in 2008 than in previous years.

The number of people killed in North Carolina car wrecks dropped dramatically -- about 18 percent -- from 1,706 in 2007 to an estimated 1,403 in 2008, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Highway safety experts attribute the decline to fewer people on the roads because of a rise in gas prices and the slumping economy.

According to AAA Carolinas, Americans drove 100 billion fewer miles in 2008 -- the sharpest decline in driving since 1971. In North Carolina, gas prices were at all-time highs from July to September 2008.

"People are just a little more conservative, even though prices of gas have gone down," said state Highway Patrol Sgt. Jorge Brewer. "People chose not to travel that much. The economy goes hand-in-hand with traveling."

David Harkey, director of UNC-Chapel Hill's Highway Safety Research Center, said all states saw a decline in fatalities last year because of fewer drivers on the roads. In fact, North Carolina's drop was not as great as those of many other states, he said.

North Carolina's decline in 2008 also can be attributed to the fact that highway deaths were particularly high in 2007. Safety experts never were able to explain why they increased so much that year.

"It never made sense," Harkey said.

But even taking that into consideration, the number of fatalities in 2008 was the lowest in at least eight years.

Most categories of highway fatalities went down in 2008 from the previous year, based on wreck reports by the state Highway Patrol. Fewer people died as a result of speeding, drunken driving and not wearing seat belts.

The biggest decline was in speeding deaths, which fell 29 percent, from 329 in 2007 to 234 in 2008. Drunken-driving deaths were down 13 percent, from 204 in 2007 to 177 in 2008. And 439 of those killed in 2008 had not been wearing seat belts, compared with 556 in 2007.

Targeted campaigns

Darrell Jernigan, director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program, said the organization has had success targeting campaigns to these specific issues. "Click It or Ticket" promotes seat belt usage, "Booze It and Lose It" aims to deter drunken driving and "No Need 2 Speed" targets speeding.

"Just during our campaigns, law enforcement removed over 15,000 impaired drivers in the last two years," Jernigan said.

Seat belt usage was up to 89.8 percent in 2008, the largest percentage ever, he added.

There were slight increases last year in two categories investigated by the state Highway Patrol -- pedestrian and bike deaths. One hundred pedestrians were killed in 2008, up from 93 in 2007; and 17 cyclists died in 2008, up from 11 in 2007.

Johnston County, which has been hit especially hard by deaths of teens on rural roads, had 29 car fatalities as of Oct. 31 -- DOT's most recent data. That's down from 55 in 2007. Chatham County, which also is mostly rural, had 12 fatalities through Oct. 31, down from 21 in 2007.

But some parts of the Triangle didn't see a decline in traffic deaths.

Orange County had an increase in vehicle fatalities, from 11 in 2007 to 16 as of Oct. 31.

And once all figures are in for 2008, Wake and Durham counties are likely to have surpassed 2007's traffic deaths.

In Wake, 63 people were killed in the first 10 months of 2008, compared with 64 people killed in all of 2007. In Durham, 19 people had died in the first 10 months of 2008. Twenty-two people were killed in all of 2007.

No celebration

Although any drop in traffic fatalities is good, Vaughan, the trooper, said it is not enough.

Just a few months ago, a man died on Lake Wheeler Road. Vaughan went to the victim's home and broke the news to the man's wife. The couple had a 3-month-old daughter.

The man, Vaughan learned, had argued with his wife and had left the home just before the wreck.

"You think about these people for years," he said.

RECESSION, GAS PRICES CREATE A SILVER LINING