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News Release
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Dec. 27 , 2007 |
Crash fatality data for 2007 appears to show AMES, Iowa – Fatality numbers for 2007 will sadly remain near the 10-year average according to the Iowa Department of Transportation's (Iowa DOT) data collection. In each of the last 10 years, approximately 442 lives have been lost on the state's highways. Preliminary fatality data is collected continuously throughout the year from law enforcement reports and media accounts, but because of time lags in crash reporting, final annual data is often not complete until several months into the next year. Scott Falb of the DOT's Office of Driver Services says, while this year's data is not complete, the current numbers appear to have no significant drops or increases in fatality numbers. “While we won't know the final 2007 numbers for a while, the previous five-year average fatality number for December is more than 39 lives lost. Every life lost is a tragedy. That person is a mom, dad, sister or brother who wasn't at the holiday dinner table this year,” Falb said. Of the individuals reported fatally injured on Iowa roadways this year to date, 151 people (46.75 percent) were not wearing seat belts. The Iowa DOT compiles a “Life Toll” to record the number of people who have escaped serious injury or death because they were buckled up at the time of a crash, as determined by the investigating law enforcement officer. For currently reported crashes so far this year, 68 people have been saved by their seat belts. The total number saved since the mandatory seat belt law went into effect July 1, 1986, is 5,861.
Fatalities from crash reports and FNOR* news sources Dec. 27, 2007.
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