STATE HIGHWAY FATALITIES DECLINE; PATROL SURPRISED IN VIEW OF HIGHER SPEED LIMIT

All the worry that boosting the speed limit to 70 mph would cause more fatalities may have been for naught.

After only a slight increase in highway fatalities in 1996, numbers have plummeted this year, said Lt. Ron Beck, a public-information officer for the Missouri Highway Patrol in Jefferson City.

There have been 293 road fatalities in Missouri since Jan. 1, Beck said. That is 53 fewer fatalities than this time last year when there were 346, he said.

"We're delighted -- and a bit surprised," Beck said of the decrease.

When Gov. Mel Carnahan signed a bill in March 1996, allowing the Missouri Department of Highway and Transportation to raise the speed limit to 70 mph, many feared an increase in highway fatalities.

Initially, the number of fatalities rose, but only slightly. In 1995, the year before the law was enacted, there were 1,109 fatalities. In 1996, there were 1,148.

But now the numbers are way down, and Beck says motorists deserve the credit.

"We're hoping the variables that are making the difference are that more people are wearing their seat belts, driving more cautiously and becoming more aware of the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol," he said.

Dave Snider, assistant chief engineer of operations for the state Highway and Transportation Department, said the decrease in fatalities isn't surprising.

"Our speed study before 1996 showed that they were traveling that fast anyway," Snider said. "The new speed limit is obviously adequate, and people are just driving as fast as they are comfortable driving."

He pointed out that cars are designed safer every year and that is a factor in the decrease.

In some local counties, road fatalities have followed the statewide trend while other counties have seen more highway fatalities.

In 1995, the year the top speed limit was 65, there were 15 road fatalities in Cape Girardeau County. In 1996, the first year of 70 mph, there were nine deaths. In Scott County, there were 15 deaths in 1995, compared to 13 in 1996.

There were slight increases in Bollinger and Perry counties. In Bollinger County, fatalities went from one to seven in 1996. Perry saw a two-fatality increase in 1996, to six from four in 1995.

"It fluctuates," Beck said. "It could go up in the summer as more motorists hit the roads for summer vacation and trips and those sorts of things. It could all go right back up in two or three weeks. You never know."

Snider said that a better idea of how the new speed limit is working can be determined next year.

"It's still a little premature to say whether it's good or bad," Snider said. "It takes a good two years for drivers to react to major changes. They've got to get used to it."

But Beck said that the overall numbers are a good sign.

"This downward trend could continue," Beck said. "It just depends on how much common sense the drivers want to use. If things keep going the way they are, it would just be outstanding."

The patrol said the chances of death or serious injury double for every 10 mph over 50 mph that a vehicle travels.