Nearly 250 people have died in traffic fatalities in Connecticut this year. Lawmakers say deaths have increased since the pandemic — and it’s not something they can fix with just laws.
In 2019, the year before the pandemic, less than 200 people died on Connecticut’s roads. Fatalities have gone up about 25% this year, and there are still three months to go.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said the problem isn’t just affecting Connecticut, but the state has specific challenges.
“We have a particular problem here in Connecticut, that because we're an older state, because our neighborhoods were built a long time ago, we don't have pedestrian-friendly streets in the way that we should,” Murphy, who crosses the state on foot every summer, said.
Murphy said he has asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for advice on making the roads safer. He wants to know if the state should change its driver education system and how to attract more federal funding for pedestrian safety.
He spoke at the state’s Department of Transportation training center in Newington on Wednesday morning. He was joined by Gov. Ned Lamont (D), Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Ronnell Higgins, and the parents of a woman who was killed while walking in 2022.
Shauna Devlin, 37, was killed in a hit-and-run in Hamden. She was one of 70 pedestrians to be killed on the state’s roads that year. (64 pedestrians were killed in 2023, according to state data.)
Her parents, Bill and Melody Devlin, said the accident was caused by an 83-year-old man who “shouldn’t have been driving.”
“Our daughter's legacy of helping people inspired us to raise awareness about pedestrian safety,” Melody said, now involved with the advocacy group Watch For Me CT.
Lamont said traffic fatalities have gone down since a spike in 2022, when 367 people were killed. He credits speed cameras, new flashing wrong-way signs and increased law enforcement stops.
But he said the issue can’t be legislated away.
“We can't just enforce our way out of this,” Lamont said. “You know, I need each and every one of you to look out for each other. I need you to remember the line, ‘Friends don't let friends drive drunk.’”
He reminded drivers to stay off their phones and call 911 if they see a reckless driver.
Recently, several drivers have made headlines for going over 100 mph on the state’s roads.
State Senator Tony Hwang (R-Fairfield) is a ranking member of the Transportation Committee.
"This lawlessness on our roads is a public safety menace,” Hwang said. "Lawbreakers are clocked at over 100 mph daily. Reckless, impaired and distracted driving endangers all of us. The crackdown must continue, and we support law enforcement’s ongoing efforts to do just that.”
