The motor vehicle fatality rate in Tennessee fluctuates from year to year, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. As a way to combat this fluctuation and lower the fatality rate, state officials implemented a program that may have played a role in lowering Tennessee’s fatal crash rate. At the end of 2014, the state reported the lowest number of people killed in traffic accidents since 1963, according to WSMV News. TDOT and the Tennessee Highway Patrol believe that these numbers are no accident, and credit the new program with reducing deadly traffic accidents and saving lives.
According to WSMV, a Clarksville man was recently arrested and charged with driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and vehicular assault. His alleged victim, a mother of five, still struggles with pain from her injuries. Sadly, this type of story is all too common to any Murfreesboro lawyer for car accident victims.
How the program works
The motor vehicle accident fatality rate in Tennessee increased by 8 percent, jumping from 937 deaths in 2011 to 1,014 deaths in 2012, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In an attempt to lower the number of traffic accident deaths that occur on state roadways each year, Tennessee officials initiated a program that now predicts and prevents potential car accidents.
A Murfreesboro lawyer for car accident victims knows that the program works by breaking down the entire state into specific areas, which are carefully monitored for accident information. The program can predict where a serious accident will occur within four hours. Areas that have a high rate of car accident fatalities are saturated with patrolling law enforcement officers. The officers work to deter people from drinking and driving and catch negligent drivers before they cause collisions and serious injuries.
Multi-faceted approach to curbing negligent drivers
Not only has law enforcement flooded problematic areas around the state, but Tennessee Highway Patrol has increased the state’s DUI enforcement by 150 percent over the past three years. During that time, seat belt enforcement has also been increased by 240 percent. Along with heavy use of billboard advertising campaigns warning motorists that they will get caught if they choose to drive while impaired, this multi-faceted approach has worked to lower the number of traffic accident deaths to 902 in December of 2014. Although this number does not include car accident deaths from the last two weeks of the year, TDOT and the highway patrol feel very optimistic that the numbers will stay low.
When motorists climb behind the wheel of a vehicle, they may be in danger of becoming involved in a tragic accident caused by a distracted, drowsy or drunk driver. Motorists who have been injured in such an accident may want to consider contacting a Murfreesboro lawyer for car accident legal assistance