Last Year 648 Crash Fatalities Occurred On Arkansas Highways

New TZD Blog Launch for Safety Partners

The greatest resource of the Arkansas State Police Highway Safety Office are the people that work there. They are the ones that go to bat for you, the driving public every day. They crunch numbers, tally funds, make themselves accountable to distribute funding to our state law enforcement agencies and other organizations, and do research to help figure out how to get to zero crash fatalities. Still on the journey Toward Zero Deaths, this year 502 crash fatalities occurred on Arkansas Highways according to the preliminary statistics as of August 13, 2021.*

With this new blog, the Arkansas Highway Safety Office (AHSO) hopes to develop a better community relationship with law enforcement agencies and their largest group of safety partners, the driving public. Every life is valuable. The AHSO does not want the lives that expired on Arkansas highways this year due to fatal traffic crashes to become just another set of numbers added to the year-end statistics.

Every digit that makes up the 648 lives lost this year represent not only an individual but a family, a community, a city and the state of Arkansas.*

The lives lost in crashes in many cases are 100% preventable. The ongoing goal for the AHSO and its safety partners is Zero Deaths on the roadways of Arkansas and, the goal for every individual, every family, and every community should be zero deaths. We honor the lives lost on our roadways by seeking to provide more and more evidence-based solutions to the multi-layered problems of fatal traffic crashes.

That’s why the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, State Police, Highway Safety Office, Department of Transportation and the Department of Health are working together with other partners across the state through the Toward Zero Deaths program to eliminate traffic fatalities.

The ultimate goal of the program is to strive for zero fatalities on Arkansas roadways. This goal supports the Toward Zero Deaths National Strategy on Highway Safety. To reach this goal, the Arkansas Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) identified key safety areas. The SHSP plan integrates education, enforcement, enrollment, engineering, and emergency services. The primary goal of the Arkansas Strategic Highway Safety Plan is to reduce the annual number of roadway fatalities in Arkansas.

The plan is the culmination of joint efforts of various organizations in Arkansas to set the direction of our future collective safety efforts. The plan is not limited or focused on one organization or one area of concern. The plan is applicable to all organizations and all areas that play a part on addressing roadway safety in Arkansas.

We’re not at zero yet, but we know that by working together we will see a day when there are no traffic fatalities on Arkansas roads.

Toward Zero Deaths. One is still too many.

The Arkansas Highway Safety Office coordinates an ongoing statewide behavioral highway safety program making effective use of federal and state highway safety funds and other resources to save lives and reduce injuries on the state’s roads. The AHSO provides leadership, innovation, and program support in partnership with traffic safety advocates, professionals, organizations and our single largest safety partnership, the driving public. Read how AHSO is working toward Zero Deaths on Arkansas roadways in featured programs addressing high fatalities Impaired Driving and Occupant Protection.

**Preliminary Data - Fatalities as of December 31, 2021

For more Arkansas Crash Data https://www.dps.arkansas.gov/dashboard/

MAKE THE CHOICE DRIVE SAFE ARKANSAS!

Arkansas State Police Highway Safety Office