EVERETT — Traffic deaths in Snohomish County last year rose to their highest level in nearly a decade, a Washington State Traffic Commission report found, even as deaths fell statewide.
Traffic fatalities dropped across Washington between 2023 and 2024 after years of increases post-COVID, the commission found. In 2024, 731 people were killed in traffic incidents compared to 809 in 2023.
Snohomish County’s numbers went in the opposite direction. In 2023, traffic deaths in the county had dropped to 43 after a spike in 2022. But in 2024, a total of 64 people died in traffic incidents countywide, the traffic safety commission found, the highest number since 2015.
What are the reasons for the increase? Data shows there was a rise in deaths involving drivers who were impaired by alcohol or drugs. A total of 43 fatalities — nearly two thirds of Snohomish County’s traffic deaths in 2024 — involved drivers impaired by drugs or alcohol, traffic commission data showed, the highest number since 2015.
Other main causes included speeding, distracted driving and drivers who failed to wear a seatbelt.
“The bottom line is that four driver behaviors contribute to at least 75 percent of traffic fatalities annually: impaired driving, speeding, distracted driving, and failure to wear seat belts,” wrote Mark McKechnie, an external relations director at the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, in a press release. “In order to make our roads safer, we should drive sober, at safe speeds, without distractions, and buckle up. And we should encourage those we care about to do the same.”
For local officials working to slow the rate of traffic death and injury, the increase in Snohomish County fatalities were frustrating to see.
“It’s been a tough pill to swallow, because we’ve been working really hard,” said Stacey McShane, who manages Snohomish County’s Target Zero program.
Target Zero is a statewide program that operates with the goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2030. In Snohomish County, McShane provides community education on traffic safety and works with law enforcement to perform emphasis patrols.
School kids cross 4th Avenue West near Voyager Middle School in Everett on Friday, Feb. 9. The Target Zero Task Force is planning to use around $30,000 to implement a safety campaign to prevent pedestrians and motorist collisions in the area. (Ian Terry / The Herald
During the Cinco De Mayo weekend this year, McShane said, law enforcement in the Snohomish County area wrote 974 speeding tickets and arrested 36 people for DUIs during a grant-funded emphasis patrol.
“Enforcement is one of our biggest deterrents in the traffic safety world,” McShane said. “We’re really trying to keep that pressure on and make sure the public knows we’re out looking for DUI drivers, we’re out enforcing speed limits.”
State routes, which include highways and interstates, saw the highest increase in fatalities in Snohomish County, from 16 in 2023 to 34 in 2024, according to traffic commission data. Deaths on county roads dropped, however, from 9 in 2023 to 6 in 2024. Deaths on city streets rose from 15 to 17.
In Everett, traffic fatalities rose from 11 in 2023 to 14 in 2024, although that rate still represents a decrease from 2022, when 22 people were killed by traffic incidents in the city, the highest number in the past decade, commission data showed.
Out of the 14 people killed in Everett traffic incidents last year, half were pedestrians, according to traffic commission data.
Everett staff are working on their own plan to reduce traffic violence throughout the city. The city’s program, known as Vision Zero Everett, will focus on reducing those pedestrian-related deaths and injuries, said Corey Hert, Everett’s traffic engineer.
“They’re looking through the entire corridor, block by block, what types of things can be done to improve safety from an engineering standpoint,” Hert said.
Vision Zero Everett is utilizing a “safe systems approach,” Hert said, which attempts to bring together safer road infrastructure, lower speed limits and improved post-crash care while educating drivers on safe practices. The approach looks at traffic violence as more of a public health emergency rather than something that is strictly a law enforcement issue, McShane said.
Possible improvements to pedestrian infrastructure that could come from Vision Zero Everett may include curb extensions to shorten crosswalk distances and “no right on red” rules at key intersections.
Exactly where those infrastructure improvements may end up throughout the city is still to be determined. The city is expected to release a draft of its Vision Zero plan in September.
Officials urged drivers to stay safe while on roads to prevent traffic deaths. Especially as warmer weather arrives in the summer, have a plan when going out with friends and make sure someone stays sober if you drive, McShane said. Drivers should also remain vigilant and avoid distractions while driving, as the longer daylight hours and better weather mean more people will be outside walking, she said.
“I think the biggest thing is trying to rely on our communities to really shift driver behavior,” McShane said. “That’s getting out and pounding the pavement and working with community groups to reduce the amount of traffic violence that’s happening.”
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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