A 21-year-old Private First Class assigned to Fort Liberty, North Carolina, died in a PMV-4 mishap at local. The Soldier was operating her vehicle when she struck a barrier at an unused access control point. Another Soldier driving came upon the mishap site and notified 911. Fort Liberty emergency medical services arrived on scene and transported the Soldier to the local hospital. Upon arrival, the Soldier was pronounced dead. Speed and alcohol were reported as contributing factors. It is unknown if the Soldier was wearing her seat belt. The unit/safety points of contact are waiting for local law enforcement to release its final report.
Since FY19, the Army has lost an average of 35 Soldiers a year to PMV-4 mishaps. This mishap was the 10th fatality of FY24 and above the number of fatalities for the same time last year.
Safety tip
Speeding is a major factor in traffic deaths and injuries. The role of speeding in crashes is described in terms of its effect on the driver, the vehicle and the road. Excessive speeding reduces the amount of time the driver has to react in a dangerous situation to avoid a crash, increases vehicle stopping distance, and reduces the ability of road safety structures (such as guardrails, impact attenuators, crash cushions, median dividers and concrete barriers) to protect vehicle occupants in a crash.
Speeding was a factor in 29% of all traffic fatalities in , killing 12,330, or an average of over 33 people per day. The total number of fatal motor-vehicle crashes attributable to speeding was 11,057. A crash is considered speeding-related if the driver was charged with a speeding-related offense or if racing, driving too fast for conditions or exceeding the posted speed limit was indicated as a contributing factor in the crash.
is the third consecutive year with an increase of speeding-related deaths. In addition, the percent of deaths involving speeding (29%) is above the historic low set in when 26% of deaths involved speeding. Speeding-related deaths increased 7.9% from and were the most deaths recorded since .
The proportion of speeding-related crashes to all fatal crashes in decreased as the age of the driver increased. The proportion of female drivers who were speeding is smaller than male drivers across all age groups. Young male drivers in the 15-20 and 21-24 year age groups were the most likely to be speeding at the time of fatal crashes. In , at least 31% of male drivers in these age groups that were involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash, compared to 19% of female drivers in these two youngest age groups.
Alcohol-impaired driving continues to be one of the biggest safety issues on U.S. roads. In , 13,384 people were killed in alcohol-impaired crashes, an increase of 14.2% from the 11,718 deaths in and the most deaths recorded since . Alcohol-impaired driving crashes involve at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher.
About 16% of drivers in fatal crashes who test positive for alcohol fall below the 0.08 g/dL BAC legal limit. About half of the drivers in fatal crashes that test positive for alcohol have BACs of 0.16 g/dL or higher. The prevalence of positive BAC levels peak at the 0.16 and 1.17 g/dL levels and steadily decline as BAC levels increase.
Speeding and alcohol impairment often coincide; this varies with driver age. While 24% of speeding drivers under age 21 involved in fatal crashes are alcohol impaired (BAC = 0.08+ g/dL), 40% or more in the 21 to 54 age groups are impaired. The percent of alcohol-impaired drivers falls sharply to 33% among 55-64-year-old drivers and continues to decline as the driver’s age increases.
Data provide by National Safety Council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.