Good News: Traffic Fatalities Down and Caltrans Employee Honored

John Demas

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 575

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In our business, it seems like all we hear about is when things go wrong. Well the good news is, some things have gone right this year. Every year the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracks the number of collisions, fatalities, and accidents on our highways. Early numbers show that traffic deaths are down for the first 10 months of 2008. In October 2007 there were 34,502 deaths, thankfully, this year that number is 31,110. It doesn’t seem like a big difference at first, but think about it. 3,000 lives were saved so far this year. Be it the bad economy, the high gas prices, or the increase in safety programs, lives were saved and we are thankful for that.

It is uplifting to think that we must be doing something right. I don’t know if fear of litigation or education of teens is the cause. I don’t know and I don’t care, as long as it keeps happening. The NHTSA has been keeping track of this and other information since 1966. In the beginning there were more than 50,000 deaths a year and now we’ve got it down around 40,000. There is still work to be done, but if we put in the effort I know the roads will be safer.

It takes a strong team to keep everybody safe. The highway patrols are so important, and the people building the roads, the people driving the roads also have to take some responsibility. But when we have people like Robert Immoos working for us, it takes some pressure off. Mr. Immoos is an employee of Caltrans and was recently awarded the Medal of Valor for his brave guidance of a wrong-way driver on I-80. At great risk to himself, he got in his vehicle and got the attention of the driver and guided the driver to safety, preventing a possibly disastrous head-on collision and potential chain of accidents.

Thank you Mr. Immoos and everybody out there like him. It is people like you that keep us a little bit safer out there on the road. Remember, about 40,000 people die each year in traffic collisions, don’t be one of them. Drive safely.