ACCIDENT FATALITIES LOWEST IN SEVEN YEARS

The number of vehicle accident fatalities in Missouri in 1992 was at a seven-year low, the Missouri Highway Patrol reported this week.

At the same time, highway safety officials said Missouri achieved the nationwide goal of 70 percent usage of seat belt and child restraints by the end of 1992.

The decline in highway accident deaths mirrors the national downward trend in vehicle accident fatalities, which are at a 30-year low, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Authorities attribute the decrease in deaths to a greater number of motorists "buckling up, slowing down, and not driving under the influence of alcohol."

Nationwide, federal officials estimated traffic deaths will drop below 40,000 in 1992, the lowest annual figure in 30 years. That would continue a steady decline in vehicle accident deaths since 1988, when the toll was 47,087. The 1992 total, if it holds up, would mark a 5 percent decline from last year's 41,462 deaths.

Capt. Charles Jackson, public information officer with the Missouri Highway Patrol headquarters in Jefferson City, said the tentative 1992 Missouri statewide highway death toll was 967, down 44 from 1,011 fatalities in l991. "This is the lowest highway traffic death toll in Missouri in seven years," he said.

The last time the state's highway traffic death toll fell below 1,000 was in 1985, when 948 people were killed. The annual number of highway deaths since 1985:

1986, 1,143 fatalities

1987, 1,058 fatalities

1988, 1,103 fatalities

1989, 1,052 fatalities

1990, 1,097 fatalities

1991, 1,011 fatalities

By comparison, the greatest number of people killed in a single year in Missouri - since 1941 - was 1,528 in 1969. There were 1,498 highway deaths in 1968 and 1,482 in 1972.

The lowest number of fatalities was during World War II, when 521 people died in highway accidents in 1943.

In the 13-county Troop E area of Southeast Missouri, the number of highway deaths in 1992 was 76. That compares with 83 killed in the troop in 1991, 95 fatalities in 1990, and 96 highway deaths in 1989.

Cape Girardeau County's traffic death toll remained at two for the year, the same as in 1991. It compares with six killed in Cape County in 1990 and two highway deaths in 1989.

Cape Girardeau police reported two traffic-related fatalities in the city in 1992. That was down from the four deaths that occurred in the city in 1991, and compares to three fatalities in 1990 and two deaths in 1989.

Jackson emphasizes these are tentative figures and may increase because of late deaths that may occur this month resulting from injuries that occurred in December.

"We are certainly very pleased and gratified to see our annual motor vehicle fatality death toll drop to a five-year low," Jackson said. "We believe it's an indication of the effort that law enforcement and the driving public are making to reduce the needless number of tragic deaths on our state highways and interstates."

Jackson said the decline in highway deaths can be attributed to three things: more people are using seat belts and placing their young children and infants in child restraints; drivers are slowing down; and there are fewer drunk drivers on the road.

The decline can also be attributed to law enforcement's driver safety education programs and vigorous enforcement of drunken driving, seat belt, and speeding laws, Jackson said.

"We've seen a sharp increase in the number of drunk driving arrests made throughout the state by highway patrol officers and county and municipal officers," Jackson said. "Everyone is more aware of the threat a drunk driver poses to others. The public is demanding that we get these drunk drivers off the road.

"We are also finding on our DWI spot checks that the vehicles stopped by our officers may be carrying a lot of intoxicated persons, but the driver is sober. That tells us the Designated Driver Education Program is working."

Jackson said another reason for the decline may be a changing attitude on the part of more drivers toward better driving habits.

"When you get behind the wheel of your car or truck, always drive as if the driver's license examiner was setting across the seat from you, or if a highway patrol officer were sitting in the back seat of your car," he said. "You'll be amazed at the impact it has on your driving habits if you remember this little tip."

Jackson said as a result of a public education program and enforcement of seat-belt and child-restraint laws, and voluntary compliance by motorists, Missouri was able to meet the national goal of 70 percent usage of seat belts in 1992.

"That means more people are using seat belts than ever before in Missouri. It also means people wearing seat belts who are involved in motor vehicle accidents have a much greater chance of surviving the accident with only minor injuries," he said.

According to the federal statistics, Missouri was only one of 14 states to achieve the 70 percent goal of seat-belt and child-restraint usage by the end of 1992. Other regional states that met the 70 percent goal include Iowa, 71 percent, and Kansas, 70 percent.

In Cape Girardeau, the percentage of seat-belt compliance was even higher, said Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Kinnison said 72 percent of drivers and occupants in vehicles in the city were using seat belts or child restraints last year.

"We're very pleased about it," said Kinnison. "We've worked very hard the past several years to meet the 70 percent goal that was set by the federal government. This past year we sponsored several seat-belt-safety programs aimed toward children and adults."

Kinnison said a recent study by the Missouri Highway Patrol shows that 66 percent of the people between the ages of 15 and 59 who were killed in vehicle accidents in Missouri would have lived if they had been using a seat belt.

"These kind of highway deaths are preventable. They do not have to happen," he said.

Kinnison said he expects the federal government will soon increase the 70 percent goal to 80 percent.