OLYMPIA, WA. – During the height of the pandemic, fewer people were traveling.
Travel experts say those on the road tended to speed more, drive drunk and skip seatbelts.
“That’s been part of what we’ve seen in the pandemic,” said David Harkey of the Highway Safety Insurance Institute. “And we’ve seen it continue to be a problem as we come out of the pandemic.”
According to Harkey, police presence and strategy must improve to reduce the number of fatal accidents.
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“We need to do a better job on the app,” Harkey said. “Identify those high accident locations and put in place interventions that we know work.”
The latest data from the transformation department estimates that there were just under 31,800 deaths from traffic accidents in the first nine months of last year. That’s slightly less than during the same time period in 2021, but well above the figures for 2020 and 2019.
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“Every fatality, it’s a trickle-down effect,” said Washington State Patrol Sgt. Chelsea Hodgson. “It affects the family. It affects the community. It affects first responders.”
Hodgson’s department has had a difficulties find enough officers to patrol the roads.
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“There are staff shortages across the country,” Hodgson said. “We feel that at our agency as well. And we’re also focusing on hiring to help fill those positions so we can have a better presence to help reduce that.”
