The Washington Traffic Safety Commission announced today the lowest fatality rate ever on Washington’s roads. The reduction in Washington road fatalities comes as Target Zero, the state’s highway safety program, enters its 10th year of implementation and releases its 2010 plan update.

“Target Zero sets forth a vision for Washington where no one dies on our state’s roads,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire. “More than just a goal though, Target Zero has demonstrated it is a strategy that works. Today, we have lowest fatality rates on our roads than at any other time in our state’s history, despite the increase in vehicle traffic over the last 60 years. But even one death is still too many, and we must continue our efforts. Working together, we can reach our goal: zero deaths and serious injuries on Washington’s roads by 2030.”

In 2009, Washington reached a traffic fatality rate of .87 per 100 million vehicle miles travelled (VMT) for all roads, the lowest ever. This is down from 0.94 deaths per 100 million VMT in 2008. In 2009, there were 491 fatalities on state roads, nearly 15 percent fewer than the previous three-year average of 575, and the fewest since 1955.

Introduced in 2000, Target Zero is Washington’s strategic highway safety plan for eliminating all traffic deaths on Washington’s roads by 2030. In a partnership of Tribal governments, state agencies, local governments, nonprofits and businesses, Target Zero identifies safety needs and working across several agencies and local governments, implements proven, effective strategies to reduce traffic deaths and improve highway safety.

“MADD is working toward the elimination of drunk driving and relies on high-visibility enforcement efforts like Target Zero to catch drunk drivers and discourage others from driving drunk.” said MADD National President Laura Dean-Mooney.

Target Zero focuses on the four Es: education, enforcement, engineering and emergency medical services. This year’s update of Target Zero lists over a hundred strategies for reducing fatal and serious injury crashes on Washington’s roads.

“Safety is our priority in design, engineering, construction and maintenance. All across Washington, we have construction projects that will increase driver safety,” said Paula Hammond, Washington Transportation Secretary. “And we also look for low-cost ways to make current roadways safer, such as cable median barrier and rumble strips to keep drivers on the road.

The top priority for Washington traffic safety officials in their 2010 plan is getting impaired drivers off the road. Drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs contributed to more than half of Washington’s highway deaths in 2009. Other Target Zero priorities include reducing speeding-involved crashes and run-off-the road collisions, each of which contribute to more than two of every five deaths.

The enforcement component of Target Zero will fall to police agencies such as the Washington State Patrol and local law enforcement.

“We will focus our enforcement effort on those violations identified in the plan as most likely to cause fatal or serious injury collisions,” said WSP Chief John R. Batiste. “Our goal is not to write tickets, but to save lives.”

One innovative approach to enforcement is happening in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Federally funded Target Zero Teams are taking a new approach to finding, arresting and prosecuting impaired drivers.

Moving forward, Target Zero identifies Washington’s traffic safety needs and guides investment decisions in order to achieve significant reductions in traffic fatalities and serious injuries.

For more information about Target Zero: Strategic Highway Safety Plan, visit www.targetzero.com.