A surprise might come to some drivers in Independence County this weekend.
According to Chief Deputy Aaron Moody, the Independence County Sheriff’s Department will be out Friday night, July 30, conducting sobriety checks throughout the county.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Americans drove less in 2020 due to the pandemic.
NHTSA’s early estimates show that an estimated 38,680 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2020 — the largest projected number of fatalities since 2007. This represents an increase of about 7.2 percent as compared to the 36,096 fatalities reported in 2019. Preliminary data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) shows vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 2020 decreased by about 430.2 billion miles, or about a 13.2-percent decrease.
The fatality rate for 2020 was 1.37 fatalities per 100 million VMT, up from 1.11 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2019. NHTSA’s analysis shows that the main behaviors that drove this increase include: impaired driving, speeding, and failure to wear a seat belt.
NHTSA’s projections show significant increases in fatalities during the third and fourth quarters of 2020 as compared to the corresponding quarters of 2019. NHTSA will continue to carefully analyze various data sources to understand how the risks to vulnerable road users might have changed during 2020 and the contributing factors for the increase.
Moody says this activity is funded by the Independence County Drug-Free Communities Grant.
Drive sober. Drive safe.
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