PennDOT: Car fatalities down, distracted drivers up in Delco

The number of automobile crashes and crash fatalities in Delaware County declined slightly from 2016 to 2017 according to statistics released this week by PennDOT.

There were 5,026 crashes last year in the county up 25 from 2016 while fatalities in car accidents dipped from 29 to 25. The number of fatalities correlates to statewide figures that continue to trend downward to 1,137 in 2017, the lowest recorded number of accident-related deaths since crash information has been recorded starting in 1928.

Thirty-three areas were included in the department’s study of fatalities including circumstances (alcohol-related, speeding, distracted driving), crashes involving certain age groups and intersection/red light crashes, so one fatality may actually conform to one or more of these variables.

Single vehicle run-off-the-road crashes were the most frequently attributed reason for fatalities in the county with eight instances, followed up with seven instances each of alcohol-related crashes, hitting a fixed object and intersection crashes. There were seven reported pedestrian fatalities with four motorcyclist fatalities.

Single vehicle run-off-the-road crashes and hitting a fixed object were also the highest reported sources of fatalities in the state

Intersection crashes were the overall most reported type of crash in both the county and the state with 2,286 and 49,177 instances, respectively, with single vehicle run-off-the-road crashes taking the runner up spot in both jurisdictions for most frequent type of crash. Signalized intersection crashes occurred 1,074 times in county in 2017.

Alcohol-related and drinking driver crashes and fatalities continue to decrease over the past 20 years. Approximately 360 accidents in 2017 were attributed to these areas, down from over 500 each in 1998. The number of fatalities has dropped by at least half in the same time period from 14 alcohol-related deaths to seven, and 13 drinking driver fatalities to five.

Distracted driving continues to be the fastest-growing source of crashes in the state and Delaware County, increasing 240 and 298 percent, respectively, in the last 20 years.

Over 700 accidents in the county last year were due in part to distracted drivers, over 60 more incidents than in 2016, and 530 more than in 1998. The number of fatalities attributed to distracted drivers has remained level at an average 1.8 fatalities in each of the last 20 years with no more than four fatalities in any one of those years.

At the state level, 63 fatalities were attributed to a distracted driver but that number is lower than in 2016 and 2015 and down from at least 72 such fatalities in each year from 2004 to 2007.

PennDOT on its website identifies distracted driving as “anything that causes you to either take your attention away from driving, take your eyes off of the road or take your hands off of the wheel” before listing information on the state’s texting-while-driving ban.

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts released earlier this month a report declaring 15,542 citations issued in four specific violations of state laws in regard to cell phone use from 2013 to 2017. The five-county Philadelphia region accounted for 1/3 of those citations with Delaware County accounting for 4 percent, or 659, of those citations.

Furthermore, there were 889 crashes in the county involving persons over the age of 65 and another 197 involving persons aged 16 or 17. Those numbers increased throughout the state, respectively, to 21,300 and 6,700.

PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards said in a prepared statement that educational outreach, effective enforcement and lo-cost safety improvements continue to be among the department’s biggest priorities. Approximately $400 million in federal highway safety improvement program funds have been used in the commonwealth from 2013 to 2017 for 458 unique safety projects, with another $50 million invested for low-cost improvements in 3,600 locations. An additional $20 million is spent annually in federal grants for safety education and enforcement efforts.

Reportable crash and crash fatality statistics can be found on the Pennsylvania Crash Information Tool website at dotcrashinfo. pa.gov.