Fatalities in auto crashes fell again in 2009 to a record low

March 15, 2010 12:36 am

WITH EACH day seeming to bring a new and terrifying road-related danger, there was some encouraging news announced last week: Fatalities from motor vehicle crashes fell again in 2009, to a record-low rate of 1.16 deaths per 100 million vehicles miles traveled.

I was a little surprised, since a record low rate was previously set in 2008, when gas cost $4 a gallon for a big chunk of the summer. But crash deaths fell by 8.9 percent in 2009 from 2008.

Safety features in newer cars--side-impact air bags and electronic stability control--could play a role, as well as seat belt laws that are enforced as primary violations, meaning a driver can be pulled over just for not wearing a seat belt in 30 states and Washington, D.C. (It's still a secondary violation in Virginia.)

All of this is little comfort to the loved ones of the 33,963 people that died in traffic crashes last year.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said he was grateful for the decrease in deaths, but felt more work needs to be done.

"I am also disturbed that we are still talking about nearly 34,000 preventable deaths a year," LaHood wrote on his blog, The Fast Lane, at fastlane.dot.gov. "There are still too many people dying in traffic accidents every year. Just too many."

Dear Kelly: On State Route 205 in King George, if westbound traffic reaches the intersection with U.S. 301 first, there is no green signal for eastbound traffic until a full cycle of U.S. 301 is completed again. Often in the mornings, I sit at the eastbound intersection even when no traffic crosses on U.S. 301, and I have reached the intersection while westbound traffic is crossing U.S. 301 and its cycle is not yet completed. Is it permissible to cycle both eastbound and westbound on 205 before going to the 301 cycle?

--Tim Armentrout, Spotsylvania

The traffic signal does let eastbound and westbound traffic proceed before going back to U.S. 301, but you are pulling up to the stop bar at the wrong moment. I'm sorry. I imagine this is even more frustrating if it's happening before sunrise.

The traffic signal at Route 205 and U.S. 301 in King George has a set pattern, but it also uses traffic detectors to see if anyone's waiting when their turn to go comes around. If there's no traffic when your turn comes up, you get skipped--unless the turn is on U.S. 301.

For U.S. 301 traffic, the signal automatically reverts there for a short period of green time-- 12 to 15 seconds for each phase--until detectors sense traffic on U.S. 301 is not approaching, said Shawn Beavon, a traffic signal technician supervisor for the Virginia Department of Transportation.

There are six phases in the traffic signal pattern at U.S. 301 and Route 205, and the phases always follow the same order. Traffic driving eastbound on Route 205 is Phase 3, and westbound traffic is Phase 4.

When the signal turns red on U.S. 301, the signal lets eastbound traffic go first (Phase 3), followed by westbound traffic (Phase 4), which seems to be the situation you find in the mornings. You are pulling up to the traffic signal during Phase 4. While it looks as if you didn't get a change to go, you just missed your turn, so to speak. After Phase 4, traffic on U.S. 301 gets to go again, and then you wait for Phase 3 to roll back around. The signal goes back to Phase 3 faster when there's no traffic on 301.

VDOT visited this signal to make sure everything was working properly, and technicians found that it was, and there were no detector issues.

"It's simply a matter of arrival time at this intersection," Beavon wrote in an e-mail response.

Kelly Hannon is The Free Lance-Star's transportation reporter. If you have questions, send them to Getting There, c/o The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; or visit fredericksburg .com.