Chattanooga accident fatalities high for '09

Chattanooga drivers may rank among the country's safest, according to Allstate insurance, but one local group is warning motorists that 26 lives already have been claimed this year on local roads.

The number of fatalities is quickly approaching the 2008 total of 39 traffic-related deaths in Hamilton County, Tennessee Department of Safety figures show.

But on the national Allstate "America's Best Drivers Report," released earlier this month, Chattanooga drivers ranked as the country's third safest for the second year in a row. Drivers here average 12.7 years between accidents, and they are 21.4 percent less likely to be involved in a crash, according to the report.

Sioux Falls, S.D., continued to hold the first-place spot, while Washington, D.C., ranked last. The national average is for drivers to have an accident about every 10 years, Allstate said.

The data is compiled based on insurance damage claims filed by Allstate customers, who amount to about 11 percent of the nation's drivers.

"It's a fairly accurate snapshot of the public," said Nashville-based Allstate spokeswoman Allison Hatcher. "It means that Chattanooga drivers are some of the safest in the country."

Still, drivers can take action now to be even safer and keep this year's fatality total from going up, law enforcement officials say.

Police across the region are engaged in their summer enforcement campaigns, which saturate roads to find speeding and impaired drivers, issuing tickets and hefty fines to violators.

"It's not about making money ... we, as a department, don't make money off citations," said Chattanooga police Sgt. Al Tallant, a supervisor in the department's traffic division. "We want to change driver behavior. I don't want to have to tell another family member that someone they love has died."

This year's traffic-death figures were reported Wednesday during a noon meeting of the Advisory Council on Traffic Safety, which aims to reduce traffic fatalities through a collaboration of community officials. Hamilton County Commissioner Larry Henry is chairman of the panel.

"Despite the efforts of those who work to keep our roads safe, Hamilton County has seen (26) traffic fatalities so far this year," Mr. Henry said. "While those may sound like just statistics, those numbers represent mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters."

The key to preventing deaths and accidents should sound familiar: Wear seatbelts, drive the speed limit, obey road signs and don't drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, officials said.

But for some reason, the message isn't sinking in.

"A lot of our fatalities this year have not been so much alcohol-related, but they have been speed and seatbelt related," said Hamilton County Sheriff Lt. Charles Lowery, commander of the department's traffic division. "We are placing specific interest on those areas."

Deputies have placed covert speed-detecting devices along roadways to gauge speed without motorists knowing, so deputies know where problem areas are located, Lt. Lowery said.

That's in addition to beefing up patrols and working with traffic engineers to fix problem roads.

The fact that officials here are so worried about crashes that they've formed a panel to address it speaks well for Chattanooga, Allstate's Ms. Hatcher said.

"There is always room for improvement," she said. "While we celebrate this number, it's important to always look at the driving environment and address trends that may be impacting safety."