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Traffic deaths down in 2008

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Here's a New Year's resolution: Stay alive.

Wisconsin saw record low numbers of traffic deaths in 2008. The biggest reason seems to be that people drove fewer miles, in part because of gas prices.

In Rock and Walworth counties, traffic deaths in 2008 fell to the lowest levels in several years, according to preliminary numbers from the state Department of Transportation.

No one can predict where gas prices will go in 2009, but three simple steps can make the difference between dead and alive, law enforcement officers said. The recipe is simple:

-- Wear that seatbelt.

-- Don't drink.

-- Slow down.

Two of those factors are present in nearly every serious accident. Sometimes it's all three, said Lt. Gary Groelle of the Rock County Sheriff's Office.

Deputy Chief Dave Moore of the Janesville Police Department is hopeful that a new generation has internalized the seat belt message from intensive government advertising.

When a dad can't get out of the driveway before the kids start pestering him to buckle up, that's progress, Moore said.

"I believe if you want to change the culture, start with the kids," Moore said.

Groelle thinks more could be done. He would like Wisconsin law changed so officers could stop a driver for not wearing a belt. Now, the drivers can be fined for seat belt violations, but only after the officer pulls the car over for a different infraction.

A fourth factor that may be a big deal is inattentive driving, Groelle said. This includes driving while talking or texting on a cell phone.

It's hard to prove that phone conversations are causing more accidents, but you need only to look around to see many people on the phone as they drive, Groelle said.

No one knows exactly why Wisconsin's 2008 highway fatalities dropped to the lowest total since World War II.

As the year-end approached, the fatality tally stood at 587.

That was 150 fatalities below the 2007 total of 737 and far below the five-year average of 774.

A similar reduction in highway deaths nationally was attributed to the decrease in vehicle miles traveled, estimated to be a drop of 100 billion miles in a year-to-year comparison by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Through the end of October, the national highway death toll was 31,110, compared with 34,502 at the same time in 2007.

Wisconsin fatality totals topped 700 and 800 even in the 1930s, said Dennis Hughes, chief of the safety programs run by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Those numbers held relatively steady until fuel rationing and other restrictions of World War II severely cut motor vehicle travel.

In Wisconsin last year, record-setting snowfalls kept some motorists off the roads and slowed their speeds in January, February and March. Then gas prices surged to $4 a gallon in the summer.

Rising unemployment reduced the number of trips by workers commuting to jobs, Hughes said. Even truck traffic dropped off as consumer demand fell.

Motorists also slowed for economic reasons, Hughes said. Average highway speeds and top-end speeds recorded by the State Patrol all fell over the course of the year.

The state Department of Transportation was scheduled to announce its final figures for 2008 traffic deaths this afternoon. At the same time, it will introduce a new advertising campaign, "Zero In Wisconsin." The message is that even one preventable traffic death is too many.

Click here to view a map of Rock County traffic fatalities in 2008.