514 people killed in Alabama wrecks - Tuscaloosa Magazine

Preliminary figures for 2012 released last week by the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Alabama Department of Public Safety indicate that 514 people died in state highway accidents investigated by state troopers in 2012. Fifty-six of those fatalities occurred in The Tuscaloosa News' 10-county coverage area.

State officials said that in 59 percent, or 251 of the statewide fatalities investigated by state troopers, the victims were not wearing seat belts.

State troopers investigate traffic wrecks that occur on Alabama's rural, state, U.S. and interstate highways. Wrecks in cities are handled by local police and are not included in the preliminary figures.

Data from crashes investigated by local law enforcement won't be compiled until later this year, so the total number of fatalities, including the percentage not wearing seat belts is expected to climb even higher, state officials said.

The data on counties did not indicate if seat belts were worn.

In West Alabama, Tuscaloosa County had the most trooper-investigated fatalities with 24. Pickens County had seven fatalities followed by Marengo and Perry counties, both with six. Greene County had four; Bibb and Lamar counties both had three; and Fayette and Sumter counties both had one.

Preliminary state traffic crash data from January of this year, showed 36 people killed in traffic accidents investigated by state troopers. Of those, 29 victims were in vehicles where seat belts were available and 17 of them were not wearing seat belts, state officials

Over the past five years, an average of 60 percent of the victims of trooper-investigated fatalities in Alabama were not wearing seat belts, officials said.

"Too many people continue to die in crashes because they are not wearing seat belts," said a statement from John Cooper, state transportation director. "It's a proven fact that buckling up every time we get behind the wheel or ride as a passenger helps save lives. Buckling up in the front seat as well as the back seat can help improve your chances of surviving a crash."

Alabama law requires front-seat passengers and children between the ages of 6 and 15 to wear seat belts.

Children younger than 6 must be properly restrained in a federal motor vehicle safety standards-approved child safety seat.