© 2024 WUOT

WUOT
209 Communications Building
1345 Circle Park Drive
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-0322
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

State Safety Officials Focus More Resources On Traffic Fatalities

http://businessclarksville.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/TN-Traffic-Fatalities-icon.jpg

The Governor’s Highway Safety Office and the Tennessee Highway Patrol are focusing even more resources statewide on decreasing the number of traffic fatalities, especially counties that have the largest increases in traffic fatalities.

Shelby County has had 18 more traffic deaths this year than last year and Maury County saw fatalities triple from 5 to 15 by the beginning of this month.

Governor’s Highway Safety Office Director Kendell Poole says though fatality rates have leveled out a bit, improvements have led to an overall drop of 33% from eight years ago:

Poole also says the way the state collects traffic data influences the funding available for safety initiatives:

Poole02.mp3

The state’s latest data on traffic fatalities can be found here:

Chrissy served as WUOT's News Director and host of monthly public affairs talk show Dialogue from late 2021 to early 2023. Her first job with the station was as weekend student announcer while earning her bachelor's in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee. She had previously been the station's local host for NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered news programs; occasionally filled in as host for WUOT's Morning and Afternoon Concerts; and won multiple awards for her interviews, feature stories, and Dialogue.