CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Clarksville Police put forth a diligent effort to reduce car wrecks in 2019 and the numbers show. For the first time in more recent years, CPD has reported a reduction in traffic crashes in the city limits.
“The normal trend is for traffic crashes to increase each year,” said Jim Knoll, CPD spokesman, in a news release. ‘Our traffic unit’s efforts to target high crash areas with high visibility enforcement has paid dividends, with a drop of 300 crashes for 2019 compared to 2018.”
CPD’s initiative in 2020, is not only to reduce crashes in general but to specifically reduce the number of injury crashes.
For 2019, there were 5,704 crashes without injuries which took an average of 0.9 man-hours for officers to process each call.
There were 1,841 injury crashes which averaged 2.7 man-hours per call. In general, it takes three times longer to investigate injury crashes, Knoll said.
The effects of investigating and processing an injury crash scene go beyond the extra man-hours involved. It could result in officers being unavailable to answer other calls for service or potentially increasing response times to critical incidents.
“There are other tangibles directly impacting citizens. Injury crashes result in lost time to citizens due to the roadways being completely closed while EMS/Fire rescue attends to victims, the response from wrecker companies and investigation (photographs, measurements, witness interviews) by officers,” Knoll said. “A closed roadway often causes a ripple effect, forcing large volumes of traffic onto smaller contributor roadways and residential streets as motorists seek other routes.”
One factor which is fairly consistent and within a driver’s control in injury crashes is speed. Speed directly affects stopping distance and perception/reaction time. For example, a decrease in traffic speed by 5 mph would give drivers 15-20 feet more distance to stop in an emergency braking situation.
As our efforts to reduce traffic crashes continues, the emphasis for 2020 will be to realize a decrease in injury crashes. The personal, monetary, and emotional costs associated with injury crashes are immeasurable.
“In February, we are initiating stricter speed enforcement starting with Ft Campbell Blvd from Providence Blvd to Stateline Rd,” he said. “In 2020, there has already been a fatality crash and serious pedestrian injury on that stretch of roadway. Also, over the last several years, Ft Campbell Blvd has been the scene of many pedestrian and vehicle fatalities as well as countless injury crashes.”
Fort Campbell Blvd is a starting point and will be expanded based on the statistical crash analysis.