Numbers Show Traffic Fatalities at 68-Year Low

The good news in Newark and across the state is that pedestrians, cyclists, bikers and drivers stand a much better chance of making it home in one piece.

And we have seat belts, improved auto design and education to thank, said a spokesman for the California Office of Traffic Safety.

The office has updated its Collision Rankings to include 2010 data, the most recent available, culling reports from the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans, county coroners, the state departments of finance and justice. The new rankings offer raw numbers and comparative scores, showing how each city compares to others of its size and how counties compare to the state.

Not since 1944 have traffic fatalities plunged so low, “and that’s with just one-twelfth of the number of people out on the road,” said Chris Cochran, assistant director of marking and public affairs for the safety office.

“Overall, in the last five years, every category is getting better,” he said. “Even motorcycles turned around a couple years ago."

Newark falls into Group D: cities with populations between 25,001 and 50,000. There are 93. With a No. 1 ranking representing the worst and a 93 the best, Newark ranked 67 out of 93 cities for its total number of fatal and/or injury collisions based on the ranking by daily vehicle miles traveled.

In 2010, Newark had 106 accidents involving injury or death, and eight alcohol-related wrecks. By comparison, Union City experienced 119 fatal or serious accidents and 12 linked to alcohol use. And Fremont, with the heaviest population of the Tri-Cities, had 528 deadly or serious injury accidents and 72 alcohol-involved accidents.

The numbers show serious accidents slid in Newark from from 156 in 2006 to 106 in 2010. During the same period of time, alcohol-related accidents were reduced by nearly half, going from 14 in 2006 to eight in 2010.

Public awareness campaigns like those that discourage drunk driving or encourage the use of seat belts have made an enormous dent in driving habits, Cochran said.

But the rankings alone can mislead.

“The smaller the city, the less accurate the rankings are,” Cochran said. “It only takes 1 or 2 to make big changes, Officials have to look more at the raw numbers, how do they look from year to year. The whole purpose is to see what can be done differently.”

For instance, a city with gaps in pedestrian safety can seek grants through the OTS to fund roadway improvements. Those with high numbers of alcohol-related crashes might seek funding for increased DUI patrols, checkpoints, or breathalyzer kits.

The results offered up some mysteries. For instance, Sacramento is the worst in the state for alcohol-related crashes. No single cause stands out.

The OTS is conducting its own public awareness campaign this month in an effort to get motorists to abandon the use of cell phones while driving – the number one source of motorist distraction, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: April is “National Distracted Driving Month.”