Listening sessions: As NH traffic deaths rise, state residents can weigh in on highway safety

CONCORD, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Safety Monday opened registration for listening sessions for its 2024 annual highway safety plan, which will focus on the increase in fatal accidents in the state, and specifically those related to unrestrained drivers.

The sessions give the public a chance to weigh in on recent trends in the state’s motor vehicle accidents, including a rise in serious injuries and fatalities involving people not wearing seat belts. Participants can also discuss other highway safety topics, including distracted driving, impaired driving and pedestrian safety. The sessions are being held online May 22, 24 and 26.

“We use the HSP in a few ways, but there are two major purposes,” Paul Ruggiero, NH Department of Safety law enforcement liaison/special projects officer, told InkLink. “The first is our duty to be transparent to the public and inform them about the various projects we administer that reduce fatalities and serious bodily injuries on our roadways, and that we are also utilizing the federal funds we are entrusted with to best effect.”

The second purpose, he said, is that the plan serves as the state’s “grant application” with the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency for federal funding that supports the state agency’s daily operations and highway safety projects.

A flyer announcing the sessions says that the state “faces the unfortunate reality that fatal motor vehicle crashes are once again on the rise.” While the trend is not unique to New Hampshire, “We must work harder than ever as we search for new and innovative ways to reduce crashes and the loss of life that results,” NHOHS says.

The NHSTA earlier this month released preliminary estimates of 2022 crash data showing 148 people died in car accidents on New Hampshire roads, though the state has adjusted that to 146 deaths in 137 accidents. The number is a 25% increase from 118 in 2021. Last year’s number ties 2018 number for the highest number of fatalities on the state’s roads in the past decade.

The fatalities represent 1.12 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled in the state in 2022; 2021’s rate was 0.91.

Also included in the 146 deaths were 15 pedestrians and 31 motorcyclists, 30 of whom were driving, and two bicyclists.

The seatbelt ‘struggle continues’

Of the 98 car occupants who died in 2022, 56 were not wearing a seatbelt or restraint. Only two of the state’s 146 highway fatalities in 2022 was someone 18 or younger, one a driver and one a passenger.

In 2021, of the 78 vehicle occupants who died, 53 were not wearing a seatbelt or child restraint, of whom eight were 18 or younger, including two drivers, according to the most up-to-date state statistics.

So far this year, 27 people have died in 26 accidents, 19 of them occupants of vehicles, of whom 10 were not restrained. None of this year’s victims have been 19 or under.

New Hampshire does not require seatbelts for drivers or passengers over the age of 18, though it does require restraints for those younger. It is the only state in the U.S. that doesn’t have some type of seat belt requirement for adults.

The 2023 highway safety plan has a section focusing on the restraints issue. “The non-use of restraints has historically been a challenge in reducing fatalities in NH,” it says. “That struggle continues to date.”

There was an increase in the seat belt use rate in 2021 to 75.5%, up from 72.4% in 2020. The plan notes that the seatbelt law for vehicle occupants under age 18 “seems to be working, as unrestrained fatalities decreased in the 16-20 age group (2017-2021).”

But there was a substantial increase in fatalities for vehicle occupants aged 35-54 who were not wearing seatbelts, which is “supporting evidence that there continues to be a need to educate, message, and develop a seatbelt law for all occupants,” the report says.

The NHTSA this month also released causation data for fatal accidents in 2021, finding that of the 106 fatal accidents, speeding was a cause in 40 and alcohol in 44 (both can be causes in the same accident).

Listening session topics

The listening sessions will address the rise in fatalities, non-restrained fatalities, and other trends. The NHOHS said topics will include:

• How should the agency respond to the rising rate of crash fatalities?
• How should it respond to the rising rate of unbelted fatalities?
• What are the barriers to people safely traveling from point A to point B on N.H. roadways? What strategies can be implemented to overcome these barriers?
• How can the agency design and implement innovative and culturally responsive highway safety traffic enforcement programs?
• What strategies can be implemented to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, and impact of the agency’s response to the increasing rates of crash fatalities?

The NHOHS said it also welcomes comments on other topics at the sessions.

“The New Hampshire Office of Highway Safety is committed to engaging with the community and ensuring that the 2024 NH Highway Safety Plan is informed by the needs and concerns of the people it serves,” a news release announcing the listening sessions said. “These virtual listening sessions will provide a unique opportunity to hear directly from the public and to incorporate their input into the creation of the 2024 Annual NH Highway Safety Plan.”

The 200-plus annual highway safety plan is published at the end of June, for the fiscal year that runs from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

The sessions are:

Monday, May 22, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Wednesday, May 24, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Friday, May 26, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

For registration information, visit the NHOHS website.

New Hampshire motor vehicle crash statistics

* Rate of deaths per 100 million miles traveled on the state’s roads

** Fatalities who were occupants of motor vehicles, including drivers (other fatalities were motorcyclists, pedestrians, bicyclists)

*** Of the vehicle occupants, those known to not have been wearing a seatbelt or child restraint

New Hampshire accidents over the years

* Rate of deaths per 100 million miles traveled on the state’s roads

2021 New Hampshire fatal speeding, alcohol-related accidents

(Causation statistics for 2021 were released this month)

SOURCE: National Highway Safety Transportation Agency