Traffic fatalities have doubled in Chattanooga

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – The last 11 months have been deadly on Chattanooga streets.

Police have responded to crashes resulting in 32 deaths.

That’s double the number from last year.

The main contributing factor in these fatal crashes is speed.

And police say that’s one behavior some drivers do without recognizing the risks or consequences.

Lt. Danny Jones is with the Chattanooga Police Department’s Special Operations.

“We’ve had people hit as far as pedestrians go. We’ve also have DUI crashes and we’ve had people just driving way too fast for the conditions.”

“And unfortunately , anyone of those could be mitigated if someone would have paid just a little bit more attention while they were behind the wheel or better yet, not getting behind the wheel if you were driving intoxicated.”