State's highways,

drivers safer over first half of year

Good news for Alaska drivers and their loved ones came last week in the form of a press release from the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities showing a marked decrease in the number of fatalities on Alaska highways over the course of the first six months of this year.

Through the end of June, the DOT recorded 27 deaths on state roads. While any number of traffic fatalities is tragic and unacceptable, it is encouraging to note that this six-month total is down 15 from the same period last year and is a full 21 fewer lives lost than in the first half of 2000.

With so much bad news coming off the roads, including recent studies about the deadly potential of in-car distractions such as cell phones, the DOT study is a welcome relief and a notice to drivers that they are doing at least something right. Although it is difficult to isolate the reasons for the decrease with any certainty, state officials believe the difference is attributable to ongoing efforts to get drunk drivers off the road and to urge Alaskans to use their seat belts.

The state's participation in the national "Click It or Ticket" program to increase awareness of the importance of seat-belt use, along with the state's recent stepped-up DUI campaign both have components designed to increase public safety on the highways. Whatever the inconvenience to individual drivers that may come from these efforts, the potential for positive results should outweigh them.

The Click It Or Ticket effort by local law enforcement and Alaska State Troopers started Memorial Day weekend and will last through Labor Day weekend. The Alaska Highway Safety Office conducted an initial seat-belt survey prior to Memorial Day weekend, which showed that 77 percent of Alaskans were using their seat belts. There's still plenty of room for improvement, but the number is no longer below the national average, where it used to be.

The seat-belt initiative could not have been undertaken completely without a big financial assist from Alaska taxpayers and their proxies in the state Legislature. A bill passed in the spring approved money for more than 200 signs, which the DOT has installed around the state, including 90 basic "Buckle Up" signs installed on Alaska's major highways. An additional 125 "Click It Or Ticket" signs have also been installed in or around Alaska's largest cities.

DOT has also produced thousands of corrugated plastic "Click It Or Ticket" signs for distribution to business and governmental agencies. Many are being placed in employee and customer parking lots.

The state's DUI campaign got started at the beginning of this month and will run through April. By increasing the presence of local law enforcement personnel and state troopers, officials hope to get more impaired drivers off the road.

The success of the campaign will be measured in the number of lives saved. And given the number of innocent lives lost to drunken drivers, any decrease will make the extra enforcement expense money well spent.