Traffic Deaths Increase in Tennessee in 2012

On January 16, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, officials from the Department of Transportation and the Governor’s Highway Safety office announced the preliminary data on 2012 traffic fatalities within the state of Tennessee. The data was based on reports from law enforcement agencies throughout the state.

Unfortunately, the news was not all good. Our Knoxville, TN personal injury attorneys urge every driver in Tennessee to take note of the new traffic fatality statistics and to make a renewed commitment to safe driving to bring the number of deaths down in 2013.

Traffic Fatalities Increase in 2012

According to the preliminary 2012 data released in January:

• There were 1,019 traffic-related deaths in the state of Tennessee. Although this is the third lowest number of traffic deaths since 1963, it is a significant increase from 2011. In 2011, there were 937 traffic deaths so the following year there were 8.8 percent more fatalities.
• The number of motorcycle fatalities was also up in 2012. There were 138 motorcycle riders killed on state roads in Tennessee in 2012 compared with only 114 motorcycle rider deaths in 2011. This is a 21.1 percent increase in the motorcycle death rate. Unfortunately, the number of motorcycle fatalities has been increasing for a long time and has more than tripled over the past fourteen years.

This data shows that there are some areas where the state of Tennessee still has significant work to do in making roads safer. In particular, protecting motorcycle riders should be a top priority and lawmakers should consider tougher laws and more public education campaigns to educate drivers about how to safely share the road with motorcycle riders.

Some Good News in the Data

Although the increase in traffic deaths and motorcycle rider deaths was a step in the wrong direction, the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Department of Homeland Security both had positive comments to make about the overall state of safe driving in Tennessee.

The news release on traffic fatalities, for example, pointed out that the 2011 data reflected the lowest number of fatalities within 48 years. Beating or matching this number was going to be difficult and an increase is not unexpected given how few fatalities occurred in 2011. Further, since 2004 the overall number of roadway incidents has decreased in a number of key categories. For example:

• The overall rate of traffic crashes is down 7.8 percent statewide since 2004.
• There has been a 39.5 percent decrease in fatal traffic accidents involving large trucks.
• The number of deaths in all-terrain vehicles has been reduced by 50 percent since 2008.
• The number of drinking and driving related deaths is down and has fallen 31.8 percent between 2007 and 2011.

With improvement in these categories, therefore, it is clear that Tennessee laws are having an impact and Tennessee drivers are doing some things right in order to make the roads a safer place to be.

Ongoing remaining problems exist, of course, including drunk driving and distracted driving, and lawmakers need to tackle the issue of motorcycle deaths. However, if drivers make a commitment to making safe driving choices, hopefully the state can return to the record low number of deaths in 2011 and can beat that number with even fewer deaths in the future.

If you have been injured, contact G. Turner Howard III, Attorney at Law at (844) G3-Help-Me or 865-558-8030.