Del. Traffic Deaths Up in 2012; Increase Driven by Crashes Involving Pedestrians

January 17, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Delaware’s Office of Highway Safety says there were 116 traffic fatalities in the state in 2012, a 12 percent increase over 2011.

The office says the increase was driven by a spike in crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists. There were 30 pedestrian fatalities in 2012 compared to 19 in 2011, and four bicyclists were killed last year after none died in 2011.

Secretary of Safety and Homeland Security Lewis Schiliro says the increase is “very concerning.” He says the office will place an added emphasis on pedestrian safety.

The office also says there were more than 4,900 DUI arrests in Delaware last year, an increase of nearly 700. But DUI arrests are still down significantly from 2006-2009, when there were more than 6,000 per year.

 

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Texas Bus Inspections Get Lax Oversight Despite Crashes

April 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Months after their state-certified vehicle inspection station was cited by federal authorities for failing to notice defects in a bus that crashed in North Texas, killing 17 passengers, brothers Alam and Cesar Hernandez shuttered their firm. But that didn’t mean they were out of the vehicle inspection business.

Instead, they opened another station in the same Houston neighborhood and continued to inspect buses like the one involved in the accident. And they did it with the approval of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The Hernandez brothers’ story underlines a phenomenon that highway safety advocates say has long existed with deadly consequences

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