By Heidi Perez-Moreno
heidiperez-moreno@borderbelt.org
Robeson County saw a drop in traffic fatalities in 2024 for the third year in a row, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Forty-two people died in vehicle crashes in the county last year, compared to 66 in 2023, marking a 36% drop.
Officials attribute the decrease to road upgrades, including the installation of 31 all-way stops and 30 roundabouts since 2019, NCDOT spokesman Andrew Barkdale said.
Changes in drivers’ behavior are also factors. Last year, 21% of fatal crashes in Robeson County involved speeding — down from 29% in 2023 and 37% in 2022, NCDOT said. Fourteen deaths last year involved people who were not wearing seat belts, down from 24 in 2023 and 30 in 2022.
Robeson County has ranked among the worst in the state for traffic fatalities for years. It is the largest geographical county in the state, spanning nearly 950 miles in rural southeastern North Carolina, and many roads are narrow and dark.
The drop in fatalities is a win for the Robeson County Vision Zero task force, which was established in 2018 to address the growing number of deaths. Part of the group’s mission has been to convince drivers to adopt safe habits like wearing seat belts and abiding by speed limits.
“We’ve done a good job of at least making the community aware that we had problems, whether it was speeding or not using seat belts, whether it was drunk driving, whether it was distracted driving,” Grady Hunt, a local attorney who formed Vision Zero, said of the task force. “We’ve brought those issues to the forefront in the community and helped them realize that these are real issues.”
The task force, which meets four times a year, has members who work in law enforcement, schools, and health care. In 2019, the group helped re-establish safety-education classes for drivers ticketed for seat-belt violations. First-time violators can have their fines waived after completing the classes, which are offered through Robeson County Parks and Recreation.
In 2021, the task force held a roundtable discussion with local faith leaders to develop strategies for encouraging church members to buckle up and practice safe driving.
Early last year, the task force began developing a comprehensive safety action plan, which seeks to reduce highway deaths and serious injuries, raise awareness of transportation safety risks, and identify and prioritize highway safety improvement projects.
The long-term goal of the task force is to eliminate all traffic deaths, which are largely preventable. Hunt said he was optimistic about the progress but acknowledged the effort still has a long way to go. Seven people died in a fiery crash on N.C. 711 near Pembroke on Sept. 26.
“This has been a tremendous turnaround, thanks to the collective efforts of so many of our partners and the people working on our task force,” Hunt said in a news release. “But we still have more work to do.”
In a news release, State Traffic Engineer Brian Mayhew said the NCDOT is continuing to evaluate trends and factors in traffic fatalities in Robeson County.
“We understand drivers sometimes make mistakes, but we do not want those mistakes to become deadly, so we are pleased more members of the community are wearing seat belts and being cautious, Mayhew said.
