Posted: Sunday, June 21, 2009 7:34 am

Whenever a fatality occurs, the investigating officer determines the cause of the crash.

Through interviews and research, The Murfreesboro Post lists in no particular order the Top 10 (11 because there’s many) reasons fatality crashes occur in Rutherford County.

1. Using drugs or alcohol.

Murfreesboro Police Sgt. Don Fanning, who commands the Fatal Accident Crash Team, said one-third of the fatality crashes in Murfreesboro between 1997-2008 involved drugs or alcohol.

FACT investigated 62 fatalities and 43 crashes with serious injuries during that period. Of the 105 crashes, drugs and alcohol factored in 32.

His belief is borne out by statistics gathered by the state Department of Safety showing about one-third to one-half of the fatality crashes involved alcohol. In 2003, 27 people were killed in crashes with alcohol a factor in 15 deaths.

Like Fanning, sheriff’s Lt. Joe Gray said alcohol contributes to a significant amount of crashes.

2. Speeding.

But because most of the county crashes occur on rural roads, Gray said speed is probably the primary factor.

Fanning said speeding was listed as a factor in eight of the 105 crashes.

3. Overcorrecting.

Gray said many of the county roads don’t have shoulders.

“Our biggest factors are speed and overcorrecting, probably more than drunk driving,” Gray said. “A lot of county roads don’t have shoulders so a car will go off the shoulder and the driver overcorrects. Speed causes the car to overturn or spin.”

He blamed speed and overcorrecting on one-half of the fatalities occurring on rural roads in the county.

4. Veering into other lanes.

Fanning said a large number of traffic fatalities may be blamed on lane violations, when drivers fail to stay in their lanes.

5. Failing to pay attention.

“They don’t pay attention, get distracted and do other things they shouldn’t be doing when they drive such as shaving, putting on makeup and reading a newspaper,” Fanning said. “You’re only job when you’re behind the wheel is to drive.”

6. Driving aggressively.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Sgt. Rick Smith listed speeding, failing to pay attention and driving aggressively as major factors. Aggressive drivers tend to drive faster.

“It’s almost always inattentiveness or aggressive driving or both,” Smith said, adding, “congestion causes aggressive driving.”

7. Ignoring stop signs or signals.

In 11 Murfreesboro fatalities or crashes, the driver ignored a signal like running a stop light.

8. Driving recklessly.

Gray said younger drivers on sports bikes probably give law enforcement officers the most problems in traffic enforcement by speeding and driving recklessly by “riding wheelies and drag racing. They’re tempting fate. It’s going to happen.”

He cited a fatality in Smyrna last year where a motorcyclist traveling at more than 100 mph “hit a truck hard enough that the truck overturned” on South Lowry Street at Enon Springs Road.

“That’s a ton of metal rolling over,” Gray noted.

Smith agreed with Gray about the problem with sports bikers.

“They suffer very severe injuries because they’re driving at such a high speed,” Smith said.

9. Running off the road.

Several drivers ran off the road or highway and struck trees or other fixed objects for no apparent reason.

10. Falling asleep at the wheel.

11. Failing to yield.

Smith and Gray also discussed ways to avoid major injuries or fatalities.

“I never saw anybody who died who wore a seat belt,” Smith said. “Of the rare occasions when we’ve had a fatality with the person wearing a seat belt, it would not have made a difference.”

A driver hit in the driver’s door has little protection and gets the impact of the crash, the sergeant said. Even with the impact, a seat belt will hold the driver in place rather than being thrown around the car.

Also, wearing a seat belt protects the head and internal organs better.

“People are spared with a seat belt,” Smith said. “If I had anything to tell people, wear the shoulder harness like you’re supposed to across your chest.”

Gray said people would suffer fewer injuries if they wore seat belts because the protection keeps people from hitting the windshield or being ejected from the vehicle.

Also, Gray reminded drivers to yield to the right when emergency vehicles approach with lights and sirens.

“Old Fort Parkway is the worst place to drive emergency traffic because people come to a dead stop or won’t move right out of your way,” Gray said.

Lisa Marchesoni may be reached at 869-0814.