The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) has introduced five new initiatives for the state’s strategic highway safety plan called “Target Zero,” in hopes of combating a spike in vehicle collision fatalities.
“In light of an increase in traffic deaths in recent years, enacting Target Zero initiatives is more important than ever,” said Pam Pannkuk, acting director of the WTSC, in a press release. “In response, traffic safety partners in Washington have created an updated Target Zero plan that is innovative, includes new initiatives and is action-focused.”
Target Zero is a plan put forth by traffic safety leaders from around the state beginning in 2000 to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries in Washington by 2030.
In recent years, the trends for traffic related deaths have been heading in the wrong direction, as the WTSC reported a 23 percent increase in fatal collisions from 2015-2017.
According to the WTSC, Impairment remains the most common factor in traffic fatalities. Additionally, between 2012 and 2016, they reported a 15 percent increase in drivers being impaired by more than one substance (most commonly alcohol and cannabis).
Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza, who is also the chair of the Traffic Safety Committee for Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, said his chief concern when it comes to traffic related deaths in Lewis County are motorcycle collisions and crashes involving young people, particularly during the summer when school is out.
“Every year we have a serious or fatal collision involving a young teen driver,” Snaza said. “I cringe every time we enter the 100 days.”
The “100 days” Snaza references is the “100 Deadliest Days of Summer” a period between Memorial Day and Labor Day where, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, American teens ages 16 to 17 are three times more likely to be involved in a deadly crash than adults for every mile driven.
Motorcycle deaths in the state have also been on an upward trajectory in recent years, hitting Washington the hardest in the first half of 2020. In May, 46 percent of the state’s traffic fatalities came from motorcycle collisions and in an eight-day stretch from May 3-10, eight motorcyclists died via crashes with three occurring on one day.
Though these traffic-related issues are high on Snaza’s priorities, they aren’t necessarily unique to Lewis County, he says.
The new initiatives being introduced by the WTSC include leveraging the state’s traffic safety culture, focusing on health equity and multicultural communications, updating cooperative automated transportation, prevention through safe systems approach and identifying the best practices in licensing and regulation.
Washington has a strong traffic safety culture, according to the WTSC, with the state’s seatbelt use rate at 93 percent, one of the best in the nation. Target Zero’s first initiative is to enlist the majority of Washingtonians who practice safe driving to encourage the minority of drivers who engage in riskier driving behavior.
Target Zero’s second initiative identifies that people living in poverty or vulnerable and marginalized populations are more likely to be involved in serious or fatal car accidents and would make investments in education and infrastructure for underserved areas were needed.
This initiative resonated with Snaza, who said he would like to see a better driving education system because, as he notes, many low-income households can’t afford to send their teens to driver’s ed classes and some end up getting licenses when they turn 18 without formal teaching.
The third Target Zero initiative looks to “harness advancements in automated technology to reduce crash potential,” by educating drivers on automated safety features they might already have and gaining a better understanding of the feasibility of more autonomous vehicles on the roadway.
A tricky proposition, Snaza says, because on one hand, human error contributes to 94 percent of vehicle collisions, according to the WTSC, but on the other hand, Americans love their cars and Snaza doesn’t think drivers would be willing to give up control of the wheel.
“I like to drive, I have a hard time thinking that this car is going to drive for me and do all of these things, but yet I look at the elderly population, I look at individuals who can’t drive because of limitations and I think there is a time and place for autonomous vehicles,” Snaza said.
The prevention through the safe system approach, the fourth Target Zero initiative, suggests that traffic collisions can be reduced by designing traffic systems that are safer for drivers.
Finally, identifying best practices in licensing and regulation looks at the possibility of shifting the graduated drivers license restrictions to age 18 and older and “foster a cultural shift in which a driver’s license is viewed as a privilege earned after rigorous training, education and testing.”
Snaza concluded that part of the reason preventing traffic deaths is so difficult is because there are simply so many variables that can contribute to a car crash which complicates identifying trends in why fatalities increased or decreased for any given year.
“It’s always good to have goals, is that one achievable? Someday I hope it is. Right now I don’t see that,” Snaza said about Target Zero.
