Speed, alcohol add to death toll on county roadways
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

As the final hours on New Year's Eve were ticking away, law enforcement officials were hoping celebrants would get through the holiday safely and 2007 would come to a close without another auto fatality.

During 2007, 13 people having died on Wharton County roadways as of presstime Dec. 31.

Eight people died in 2006 while 13 people lost their lives on Wharton County roadways in 2005 - the same total as in 2004.

The last 2007 auto fatality took place Dec. 21 when a pedestrian was struck on FM 102 in Wharton. That ended a more than two month lull since Sept. 25 on U.S. 59 at the FM 102 intersection when two French nationals died when their vehicle collided with a semi-truck.

Of the deaths last year, alcohol may have played a factor in four chases while in three driving too fast for conditions appeared to have a role.

A single auto wreck claimed the lives of two people three times this year - a Feb. 20 rollover near Hillje, an Aug. 12 collision on Hwy. 71 about 4.6 miles north of El Campo and the Sept. 25 wreck.

Despite the final tally, Wharton County residents made it through four months during 2007 without a life lost in a crash - March, June, October and November .

August and February were the deadliest months with three fatalities each.

In the last five years (2002-2006) 64 people including drivers, passengers and pedestrians have died on Wharton County roadways.

Statistically, June has proven to be the safest month for Wharton County motorists with only one reported fatality in the last five years.

That's followed by January through April and September in which just four have died each month.

October is the deadliest month historically with 10 killed during that month between 2002 and 2006, although there were no fatalities during October 2007.

August follows as the second most hazardous with eight dead in the last five years. In 2007, three were killed as the result of collisions.

In the last 10 years, 145 have died on Wharton County roadways.

Many accidents are the result of either excessive speed or alcohol.

Of the 2007 fatality accidents, two have resulted in criminal charges for drivers - a Jan. 19 wreck which claimed the life of the Needville ISD police chief and the Aug. 12 collision on Hwy. 71 which killed two. Both are the result of alleged drunk driving.

Sometimes people are simply driving too fast for weather or road conditions while in other cases driver distraction from devices like cellular phones or music players have wreaked havoc.

Simply being tired can also have a deadly consequence.

For people who fall asleep behind the wheel, there is an 87 percent chance of being killed, according to national highway data.