State police: Extra patrols helping reduce fatalities

West Virginia state police linked a three-year decline in traffic fatalities to additional patrols made possible by the Governor’s Highway Safety Fund.

State police spokesman Lt. Michael Baylous said the funding provides overtime pay for troopers who use traffic statistics to pinpoint the most dangerous areas.

“Reviewing information and areas where there’s a high DUI or high fatality rates across the state,” said Baylous. “They are encouraging those patrols be conducted in those areas.”

The results were measurable. After West Virginia experienced 339 fatalities in 318 fatal crashes during 2012, the numbers dropped to 332 fatalities in 305 crashes in 2013. During 2014, when the governor’s funding increased, fatalities fell to 271 in 240 crashes.

“We believe our efforts to improve highway safety are leading to positive results,” Baylous said. “Look at how many lives are possibly being saved here. There’s no way we could have that type of presence here with just troopers in their normal working hours.”

Baylous said the added patrols in 2014 also led to the capture of 90 fugitives, another 542 felony arrests and 5,033 citations for cell phone violations.