Washington crash fatalities drop

Sitting down with a family to let them know one of their loved ones was just killed in a car crash is one of the worst tasks bestowed on anyone.

But in 2007, Washington State Patrol troopers and officers across the state had to do it fewer times than they had the previous year. Statewide, 545 people died in 2007 from collisions. That fell from 635 deaths in collisions during 2006, Trooper Mark Baker said.

“That’s huge for us,” Baker said. “That’s nearly 100 times that any officer across the state didn’t have to sit in a living room and explain to family members that they lost somebody.”

In the WSP’s District 4, which includes Adams, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens and Whitman counties, troopers investigated crashes that killed 29 people in 2007, Baker said. That compares to 38 traffic deaths in 2006, or a reduction of traffic-related deaths of about 24 percent.

One key statistic is that troopers did not have a single traffic-related death last year on more than 100 miles of Interstate 90 from the Idaho state line to west of Ritzville, Baker said.

“We looked back as far as seven years, and we’ve had plenty” on I-90, Baker said. “One year we had double digit deaths. This past year was a great year.”

The three main causes of traffic deaths troopers see are drunken drivers, excessive speed and people not using their seat belts.

“In our fatalities, about 42 or 43 percent are alcohol-related,” Baker said. “About the same percentages of people are not wearing their seat belts.”

As a result, the WSP is constantly beefing up its DUI enforcement and writing tickets for failing to use seat belts, he said.

“It also helps that throughout this district officers arrested 1,720 DUI drivers. Of those, 1,409 were in the Spokane area,” Baker said. “Those were all potential fatal collisions that were stopped. We would like to encourage everybody to make good decisions.”

Buckle up

Speaking of good decisions, it’s been 30 years since Tennessee became the first state in the union to require child safety seats, yet 39 percent of parents still aren’t sure when they can legally allow their children to ride in cars with only a seat belt, according to a study released last week by AAA’s National office.

The study, which involved interviews of 1,000 parents, showed that a majority of parents support restraining children.

In 2006, some 452 children younger than 5 died in crashes across the nation. Many of those children would have survived had they been properly restrained, and 145 weren’t restrained at all, said Robert Darbelnet, president and CEO of AAA.

Washington, which had 11 children younger than 8 die in 2006, enacted one of the strongest laws in the nation in June. It is one of 18 states that requires parents to strap young people into restraint systems until they turn 8 or until they measure 4-foot-9 or taller.

Those requirements vary in each state. For instance, Idaho requires that all children 6 or younger be placed in booster seats and that children less than 40 pounds use child safety seats.

“Parents look to the law to provide guidance about when and how their children should be restrained,” Darbelnet said in a press release. “Stronger laws and better education will save additional young lives.”

Booster bus

Spokane Transit is promising to do something few commuters can accomplish: Travel from north of the Y to downtown Spokane in about a half an hour.

Starting today, Spokane Transit will start an express bus route from the Hastings Park and Ride, located near the intersection of U.S. 395 and Hastings Road, said STA spokeswoman Molly Myers.

“We had no express service serving North Spokane,” Myers said. “We have express service for Liberty Lake and Spokane Valley. This is really to serve the commuter population that lives in that part of the community.”

STA officials wanted to honor Martin Luther King Day. So on Tuesday, all riders will ride free and will receive a gift certificate for a free cup of coffee, a free newspaper and a chance to win a weekend getaway at Hill’s Resort on Priest Lake in North Idaho.

Otherwise, the cost of the ride is $1 per day, and the route is designed to get folks downtown in 33 minutes, Myers said.

“The whole idea is to make it comparable to a car,” she said. “In the busing industry, frequency of service and expediency are critical.”

The buses have a paint scheme that differentiates them from buses on regular routes. The North Express buses also feature wireless Internet access, Myers said.

They start at 5:09 a.m. at the Hastings Park and Ride and leave every 15 minutes. The buses make three stops along Monroe Street, at Francis, Wellesley and Broadway avenues.

For complete route and schedule information, visit www.spokanetransit.com.

Pothole redux

In last week’s Getting There, Spokane callers were urged to report potholes to the city’s pothole hotline. Many responded.

Last Monday, the city received about 50 calls reporting potholes. That’s about double the daily activity for this time of year, city streets department spokeswoman Ann Deasy said.

But unfortunately, many potholes remain. To report potholes in the city, please call (509) 625-7733.

Spokane County also has a pothole repair hotline, (509) 477-2547.

In Coeur d’Alene, residents should call the Street Department at (208) 769-2233 if they notice a pothole.

Longtime Coeur d’Alene City Councilman Ron Edinger said he’s seen a few potholes on 15th Street this year in the Lake City.

Asked to compare his city’s problem with Spokane, Edinger went silent a few seconds before answering:

“It doesn’t compare,” he said. “You have potholes over there in Spokane that could eat an elephant.”