Editorial: Consistency will be key to reducing traffic deaths

Since 1980, traffic fatalities in Washington state have declined an average of almost 10 a year, to the point that 2009 was the most death-free year on state roads in more than half a century.

That’s an enviable tribute to better engineering and design of vehicles and highways, plus attentive motorists and dutiful law enforcement. Still, 490 people died in crashes that year, and if statistics hold, 196 of them were due to speeding.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission thinks we can do better – much better. The commission has adopted a program that says it all: Target Zero. If the year-by-year improvement can be pushed to 25 fewer fatalities – a pace that’s been exceeded the past four years – nobody will die as a result of traffic accidents in Washington in 2030.

That’s unrealistic, in our judgment, although you won’t get the Traffic Safety Commission to back down. Indeed, if the trends follow the direction of recent years, hundreds of Washington families could be spared the grief of tragic loss.

Last Friday, the commission kicked off its first statewide enforcement focus on speeding, a program called “Slow Down or Pay Up” and modeled after the “Click it or Ticket” campaign that’s credited with making Washington a national leader in seat belt compliance.

It’s not a no-tolerance program. Driving a couple of miles an hour over the 70 mph limit on Interstate 90 isn’t likely to earn you a ticket – at least, under safe driving conditions. Rather, the idea is to educate both motorists and law enforcement personnel about the need to reduce speed, primarily in stretches where statistics demonstrate an elevated risk.

But “Slow Down or Pay Up” ends on May 1. What then? Everyone can return to old habits?

That is what will determine whether the ambitious goal of eliminating traffic fatalities on Washington roads has a prayer of success or even near success. Too many law enforcement emphasis campaigns amount to a few days of cracking down on selected offenses that don’t command serious attention the rest of the year. Tickets are written, fines are paid, and then it’s back to normal.

Fortunately, that’s not what the commission has in mind, according to director and former state trooper Lowell Porter. Enforcement has to be reasonable and sustained beyond May 1. People need to know that resources are targeted at real problems, supported by reliable evidence, not merely revenue-generating schemes. And motorists need to know that what’s expected of them – and the drivers they share the road with – will be the same this month as last.

The nearer 2030 draws, the more of a challenge it will be to maintain Washington’s recent favorable trend lines. But the consequences of failure will be measured not as much in the fines paid as in corpses retrieved from crash scenes.