LINCOLN — An increase in seat-belt use. Computer-guided speed traps. More people carrying cell phones.
All were among the factors that have Nebraska on track to record its fewest traffic fatalities since 1937, when such record-keeping began, state officials said.
As of Tuesday morning, the state had seen 54 deaths on state roadways.
“We are saving lives on Nebraska roads and setting records in the process,” said Col. Bryan Tuma, superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol.
Improved trauma care, better engineered roadways, faster emergency responses and even the prevalence of cell phones — they prompt quicker 911 calls — can also be credited, said Fred Zwonechek, Nebraska Highway Safety administrator.
“Really, this is pretty remarkable,” Zwonechek said.
State officials now are gearing up for their annual enforcement effort around Memorial Day to get more people to use seat belts.
From May 14 through June 4, the State Patrol and 56 sheriff’s offices will step up traffic enforcement, using federal funding as part of the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign.
The decade-old program has helped increase observable seat-belt usage in Nebraska from a low of 68 percent in 1999 to a record of 85 percent in 2009.
Nebraska still lags behind Iowa in that regard.
The Hawkeye State had a 92.9 percent rate of seat-belt usage in 2009, according to a survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Only six states had higher rates than Iowa and all, like Iowa, make it a primary offense. That means if a motorist is observed not wearing a safety belt, he can be pulled over and ticketed.
In Nebraska, failure to wear a seat belt is a secondary offense. The driver must be stopped for another traffic violation to get a seat-belt ticket.
In 2008, Nebraska ranked No. 30 nationally for seat-belt usage.
Zwonechek said the Cornhusker State should climb in the rankings in 2009. He noted that Nebraska ranked No. 8 among the 24 states that make failing to wear a seat belt a secondary offense.
Traffic fatalities in Nebraska so far this year were 24 percent lower than the same period in 2009, and 34 percent lower than in 2008.
The snowy days of January saw an increase in fatalities (18) compared to January 2009 (14). But March, April and May have all been safer months, Zwonechek said.
The numbers would be even lower if more people wore seat belts, he said. Thirty-one of the 44 passengers who have died this year were unbuckled.
Since 2006, the state has set a goal to reduce the traffic fatality rate to less than 1.0 per 100 million miles traveled. It stood above 1.5 in 2006.
Tuma said some people thought the goal was unattainable, but if trends continue it will be achieved this year.
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