Office of Highway Safety says the First State saw a historic decline in traffic deaths last year.
Their 2013 Traffic Fatality Report shows that 95 fatal motor vehicle crashes resulted in 99 deaths on Delaware roads last year. It’s the first time in 50 years the state had fewer than 100 traffic deaths.
OHS reports those numbers also represent a 13.6 percent drop in fatal traffic crashes and a 14.6 percent drop in traffic deaths compared to 2013 when there were 110 fatal crashes resulting in 116 fatalities in 2012.
Kirk adds the report shows more state residents are buckling up.
“We did see an increase in our seat belt use rate throughout the state and it went up to 92 percent. That is a very high rate compared nationally to some other states. So we’re not the highest; it’s great being over ninety percent.”
But Kirk notes that, despite the positive trends, OHS will continue to work with various partners to eliminate traffic deaths. She says there will be an emphasis in its safety education and outreach efforts on curbing aggressive driving, especially speeding.
“Highway safety and a lot of our partners are going to be looking at we can do to reduce the speeding related crashes, injuries and fatalities," said Kirk. "It seems like speeding – across the board – is playing a factor in a lot of these crashes.”
Thirty one percent of the state's crashes were due to aggressive driving, and thirty seven percent involved speeding.
Safety education and outreach efforts will also focus on drunk driving prevention, pedestrian deaths, and motorcycle safety.
Delaware Fatal Crash Facts (Source: Office of Highway Safety)
- 95 fatal motor vehicle crashes resulting in 99 fatalities in 2013
- 110 fatal crashes resulting in 116 fatalities in 2012.
- 1963 was the last time the State saw under 100 fatalities when there were 96 traffic fatalities.
- Going back to 1929, the highest number of traffic fatalities in Delaware occurred in 1988, where 165 people were killed.
- The fewest number of traffic fatalities occurred in 1961 where 65 people were killed.
