Hwy. Patrol: County traffic fatalities at a 6-year low

By Jennifer McBride / Leader Staff

Fatalities from car accidents reached a six-year low last year, according to new report released last week by the Montana Highway Patrol (MHP).

There were 10 traffic fatalities in 2007, a 45 percent decrease from 2006's 22 traffic fatalities. The highest number of traffic fatalities ever recorded in Lake County was 23 fatalities in 2003.

Randy Owens, an MHP officer who works in Lake County, said he would like to think the fatalities were down because the MHP has been stepping up enforcement, but he doesn't know how much effect it had.

"Accidents are not so much about anything we do, unfortunately," he said.

Along with 10 fatalities, in 2007 the MHP investigated 492 total crashes and 182 injuries in Lake County. In comparison, in 2006, the MHP investigated 541 total crashes and 210 injuries. While the number of ticket citations has dropped statewide, in District VI, the MHP region which covers Lake, Flathead, Sanders and Lincoln counties, there were approximately 2,000 more warning tickets issued.

While Lake County fatality rates may be dropping, statewide, accident fatalities last year were up 1.05 percent, injuries were up 1.04 percent, and reported crashes were up 1 percent, compared with 2006. The MHP reported that, in Montana, there is an accident every 24 minutes, an injury every 53 minutes and a fatality once every 35 hours. Statewide, 41.62 percent of crashes were single vehicle and 27.78 percent of the fatal accidents involved alcohol.

The report stated that the MHP will continue to improve their services, including a technological upgrade: The MHP plan to add a new communication device, called the SmartCop CAD/RMS, and hard-backed laptops to 50 percent of MHP vehicles by 2009.

Roger Dundas, acting sergeant of region 6, said he has doubts about the technological upgrades. According to him, the SmartCop CAD/RMS allows troopers to type names into their computer, bypassing dispatch when they perform background and database searches.

"It has its pros and cons," Dundas said. He is worried the new equipment, which relies on satellite signals, won't work in a mountainous region, though he thinks it would be great to use in Eastern Montana.

"If you pull someone over on the wrong side of a tree, that's a problem, I've heard," he explained.