Are Traffic Accidents Really Down in 2ID?
Statistics show that overall traffic accidents in 2ID are down dramatically. But are they really?
Ground-vehicle accidents are down 48 percent within the 2nd Infantry Division, something the unit’s commander attributes to safety improvements made after a June 2002 incident in which a U.S. military vehicle ran over and killed two South Korean girls.
“In order to get to our training areas we have to move our equipment. We have to traverse roads up here in North Gyeonggi Province and there is always risk associated with that,†2nd ID commander Maj. Gen. George A. Higgins said Thursday.
Second ID public affairs chief Maj. Mike Lawhorn released data Friday showing the number of ground-vehicle accidents within the division fell from 292 in fiscal year 2002 to 162 last fiscal year, a drop of 45 percent. And for the first five months of fiscal year 2005, there have been just 59 ground-vehicle accidents, compared with 112 for the same period in fiscal year 2002, a 48 percent drop.
A lot of improvement has been made in reducing accidents in 2ID but I think a 48% drop is a bit inflated for a couple of reasons. First of all much less training exercises are held now than compared to 2002. This causes less vehicles on the road which means your statistics are going to drop. Also with the emphasis on traffic accidents many times people only want to put their best drivers on the road. So the same guys get picked all the time to do the driving because the less experienced drivers are to much of a liability to be put on the roads. So they never get training to improve their driving skills besides driving on post.
Something the division has done that I think has had a direct effect at reducing accidents is the speed limit of 15mph in the city and 25mph on highways. It is tough to get in accident driving that slow. Every accident I have seen a military vehicle in was the fault of the Korean driver but the soldier always gets ticketed anyway by the police for the accident. Also the division’s emphasis on safety with elaborate convoy rehearsals and education of drivers has really created a culture of safety in drivers. This has had a direct effect in reducing accidents.
However, I wonder if any staff studies have been made that show the direct impact on reducing vehicular traffic on the division’s readiness? This whole problem can be solved with the 2ID move to Camp Humphrey’s coming up in the next 3 years. If the Army buys training land adjacent to the camp, units can train without sending convoys on the local highways. This will keep a high readiness rate and reduce accidents at the same time. This is the ideal answer.
