July’s fatality numbers not encouraging

Delaware Office of Highway Safety officials say while the pace of annual fatalities this year isn’t climbing as fast as it was last year, the trajectory is still going in the wrong direction.

In July 2014, the state had recorded 12 highway fatalities. This year, the number has reached 13. The five-year average for highway fatalities in July is nine. Spokesperson Alison Kirk said 43 percent of all the fatal crashes have occurred between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Driver impairment is the biggest factor.

This July’s most disturbing statistic falls in the pedestrian category.

Delaware recorded one pedestrian fatality in July 2014. This year there have been five, the most recent being a 50-year-old male killed at 1:37 a.m. July 25 when he walked into the path of a vehicle on Route 113 north of Millsboro.

That was the second pedestrian fatality in Sussex in July and the third in the county for the year. In all, there have been 34 highway fatalities in Sussex County this year.

“Pedestrians continue to be a problem,” said Kirk. “We can’t crack that one. It continues to be an older male population problem around multi-lane highways, where drivers are traveling fast.”

Driving continues to be the most dangerous activity most of us engage in. Considering the traffic on our roads and the wide range of drivers and skill levels, and the high percentage of fatalities involving impaired drivers, it’s amazing there aren’t more serious crashes. Still, we clearly have to continue focusing on solving this growing problem.

Two recent stories and an ongoing initiative offer glimmers of hope:

One, recognition by members of Sussex County Council that distracting signage is a growing problem that can contribute to crashes; two, the construction of signalized pedestrian crossovers in high traffic pedestrian areas like Route 1 in the Lewes-Rehoboth corridor; and three, announcement that a new transportation cooperative for seniors will kick off in eastern Sussex in September. That cooperative will give elderly drivers, whose reaction times may be reduced, an affordable alternative to driving themselves so they can avoid the dangers of the highways.