Federal Grants Target Rising Deaths on Roads

Va. Programs Concentrate on Seat Belts, DWIs

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is trying to reduce the increasing number of traffic fatalities on the commonwealth's roadways, dishing out more than $13.5 million in federal grants to improve driver safety.

Virginia's roads have become more dangerous in recent years, and the grants target some of the major factors in the deaths: aggressive and drunken driving and some people's failure to use seat belts. There were 1,026 traffic fatalities in the commonwealth last year, up 11 percent from 922 in 2004, according to DMV statistics.

In Northern Virginia, the numbers have remained steady: 117 traffic fatalities last year, compared to 118 in 2004. The 2007 totals comprise 53 deaths in Fairfax County, 27 in Prince William County, 21 in Loudoun County, six in Arlington County, five in Alexandria, three in Manassas and two in Fairfax City.

Officials in Northern Virginia said they are happy to receive the grants, 44 percent of which were awarded to localities; 33 percent went to state agencies, 16 percent to nonprofit groups and 7 percent to colleges and universities. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) announced the grants recently. It is an annual program; last year's federal traffic safety grants were also about $13 million.

"This will give us a little added strength on the streets. It works out pretty well," said Fairfax County police Lt. Dennis O'Neill, whose department received $6,000 for training and education and $111,000 to support DWI and seat belt enforcement.

O'Neill said the federal money is especially critical at a time of tight local budgets. "We do this enforcement on our own, but the extra money provides some additional officers," he said. "Any money we can get becomes more important."

Kurt Erickson, president of the McLean-based Washington Region Alcohol Program, said his organization's $1 million grant will fund an annual statewide advertising campaign aimed at reducing drunken driving. The ads, which were scheduled to start last week on Washington area radio stations, target men ages 21 to 35.

Research shows that this group is disproportionately involved in fatal car crashes involving alcohol.

"Unfortunately for us, this is a population that has proven resistant to run-of-the-mill public service campaigns," Erickson said. The ads, with the theme of "Are you going to kill someone tonight?," are designed to be "nontraditional," Erickson said.

"Our research shows that this population is not fearful of hurting themselves at all, but what is a stimulant to them is the fear of hurting someone else," he said.

The more than 300 grantees statewide include Arlington, which received more than $103,000 for law enforcement; Fairfax City, which is getting nearly $20,000, also for enforcement efforts; and the Virginia State Police, which received nearly $2.2 million for DWI and speeding enforcement and youth education.

State and local officials said it is unclear why roadway fatalities have been on the upswing. John Saunders, director of the DMV's Virginia Highway Safety Office, said that the numbers "do show a significant trend upward" but that that could be because people generally drive more each year.

He said the federal grant program is focused on getting the estimated 20 percent of Virginia drivers who don't wear seat belts to buckle up. More than 60 percent of those who die in accidents are unbelted drivers, he said.

"We have folks who are just recalcitrant and aren't going to wear them. They just consider it a personal right to not wear a seat belt," Saunders said.

"They are really difficult to get to. We need education and public awareness."