Tennessee Saw Fewer Traffic Fatalities in 2007

Traffic deaths in Tennessee fell by about 9 percent in 2007, to the lowest level in 15 years.

Kendell Poole, director of the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, says preliminary figures show the state recorded 1,169 traffic deaths last year – 118 fewer than in 2006.

The biggest decreases were in the state’s largest cities. Poole says drops in Shelby, Davidson, Knox and Hamilton counties account for almost all of the decline.

He believes the downturn in urban areas was helped by grant money for more DUI checkpoints and extra patrols.

Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com