Traffic Fatalities Brief: January 1, 2015 August 31, 2015

Overview
This brief was created as an update to the January June 2015 Traffic Fatality Report to identify the
characteristics and behaviors of those at fault helping to determine patterns and factors leading to
traffic fatalities. This analysis was conducted for the January 1 August 31, 2015 time period. During
this period there were a total of 67 fatality collisions involving 76 fatalities.
FATALITY TYPE
Pedestrian
Motorcycle
Motor vehicle
Bicycle
TOTAL

# OF FATAL COLLISIONS
22
11
33
1
67

# OF FATALITIES
23
11
41
1
76

The report is organized into three sections covering the common fatality types:

Pedestrian Fatalities
Motorcycle Fatalities
Motor Vehicle Fatalities

There was one bicycle fatality in June; however it will not be covered in this report.
For each fatality type, we looked at both incident and person characteristics. The person characteristics
are based on the person found to be at fault for the collision whether he/she lived or died. Therefore,
the person in this report may not necessarily be the victim.
Terminology
Prior involvement Any contact with APD prior to the incident where the person had any role either in a
General Offense report or Street Check in Versadex.
Prior suspension Any suspension showing on the drivers license (DL) record prior to the incident.
Prior conviction Any driving-related conviction showing on the drivers license record prior to the
incident.
Notes
Some investigations are not complete and are awaiting toxicology results, speed determination, DL and
criminal histories. Therefore, the data in this report may change.

Pedestrian Fatalities
There were 22 incidents involving 23 fatalities

The majority of incidents (82%) occurred on either a highway or high-speed roadway.

Ninety-five percent (95%) involved a pedestrian crossing when or where prohibited.
o 50% Failure to Yield Right of Way (FTYROW) or crossing mid-block
o 45% crossing a highway or on shoulder/service road
Fifteen incidents (68%) occurred between 9 PM and 4 AM.
Forty-one percent involved impairment.
A majority (20 or 87%) had prior involvement with APD and 74% (or 17) had been previously
arrested at least once.
Forty-three percent of those involved in pedestrian fatalities were transient.
Nearly half (43%) of those at fault were over the age of 45.

Type of Roadway
IH-35
9%

local street
18%

other highway
41%

arterial street
32%

Reason

FTYROW to
ped
5%

crossing
HWY/SVRD/SHOULDER
45%

FTYROW
/crossing midblock
50%

# of Prior APD Involvements (Pedestrian)

10

8
6

4
1

104
times

173
times

231
times

0
1 to 10 11 to 25 50 to 65 97 times
times
times
times

Traffic Fatalities: Jan Aug 2015

none

Page 1

Motorcycle Fatalities
There were 11 incidents involving 11 fatalities

Fifty-five percent occurred on arterial streets.

o Only one occurred on IH35
Speeding was involved in 45% of incidents.
Thirty-six percent involved impairment.
Fifty-five percent of people had prior involvement with APD and 27% had been previously
arrested.
Thirty-six percent did not have a license.
o Three had no MC license; one had no drivers license.
Twenty-seven percent had at least one previous license suspension.
Over half (55%) had at least one previous conviction.
o Four of the five found to be speeding during the fatal crash had previous speeding
convictions.
o Of those, one had seven previous speeding convictions.
Three incidents (27%) occurred in the hour of 0100.
The majority (73%) of those at fault were 45 or younger.

Type of Roadway
IH-35
9%

local street
18%

other
highway
18%
arterial street
55%

DL History (Motorcycle)
6

5
4
3

previous suspension
2

previous conviction

0
1 to 6

Traffic Fatalities: Jan Aug 2015

5 to 10

> 10

Page 2

Motor Vehicle Fatalities

There were 33 incidents involving 41 fatalities. There were five collisions with multiple fatalities.

Eighty-five percent occurred on a highway or arterial street.

o Forty-nine percent were on arterial streets.
Impairment was involved in just over half (55%) of incidents.
Speeding was found in 39% of incidents.
There were five head on collisions and five collisions due to running a red light or stop sign.
Nearly two-thirds (61%) had prior involvement with APD and had been previously arrested.
Thirty percent did not have a valid drivers license at the time of the collision.
o Two drivers with over 30 suspensions both had suspended licenses at the time of the
fatal crash.
o Three drivers who were impaired at the time of the fatality crash had previous DWIs.
None of them had valid licenses.
Thirty-one percent had at least one previous DL suspension.
o One driver who was impaired, speeding and ran a red light killing the driver of another
vehicle had 24 previous suspensions and 6 previous speeding convictions.
Nearly half (44%) had at least one previous DL conviction.
o Thirteen drivers were speeding. Of those, six (46%) had at least three prior speeding
convictions.
Friday and Sunday were the most common days for motor vehicle fatal collisions (21% each).
Most incidents (42%) occurred between midnight and 5 AM.
Slightly less than half (42%) of those at fault were between the ages of 26 and 35.

Type of Roadway
local street
15%

IH-35
15%

other highway
21%
arterial street
49%

Traffic Fatalities: Jan Aug 2015

Page 3

Impairment
pending
12%

impaired/
suspected
impaired
55%

none
33%

DL History (Motor Vehicle)

9

10
8

previous suspension

3
1

previous conviction

0
1 to 5

6 to 10

Traffic Fatalities: Jan Aug 2015

11 to 24

32

38

Page 4