Traffic Deaths Are Up in Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle

According to an article in the Amarillo Globe News, deaths from traffic fatalities are increasing in the Texas Panhandle.

Since Jan. 1 through Thursday, DPS has responded to 54 fatal wrecks that have killed 66 people in the Texas Panhandle. For all of last year, there were 87 deaths, Beighle said.

And the number of people dying on Panhandle roads seems to be rising, according to the figures recorded in July. Through July 2005, 48 deaths were recorded.

The figures are equally tragic in Amarillo. Nineteen people have died in car wrecks and collisions in the city since Jan. 1, said Lt. Mike Miller, who heads the Amarillo Police Department's Traffic Investigation Unit.

Amarillo normally sees about 21 or 22 traffic deaths a year, he said.