LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — AAA calls this time of year the "100 deadliest days on the road," a period when more teens drive and get involved in deadly accidents.
The Little Rock Police Department said they've seen about a 43% increase in fatal car crashes compared to last year.
Little Rock Traffic Engineer Manager William Henry's job is to monitor safe traffic patterns and decide when drivers get the green light.
"If you're driving above the speed limit, then you're going to be stopped more often," Henry said. "If you drive the speed limit, you can generally go through the system nonstop."
His team has programmed traffic lights in the city to try and avoid accidents, even if some of their work slows drivers down by a few seconds.
"We increase all red times on our arterioles because of all the people running red lights," Henry said. "They have a disregard for the traffic signal."
Henry said those extra two seconds on red protect pedestrians, but only so much.
Little Rock police officer and accident reconstruction specialist Kyle Henson explained that many safety concerns come down to following the signals behind the wheel and in the crosswalk.
"About half of our fatal [crashes] right now are pedestrian accidents," Henson said. "You've either got pedestrians crossing outside an intersection [or] crossing when it's dark. There's no streetlight."
Henson admitted that traffic enforcement sometimes struggles due to staffing shortages.
"Unfortunately, traffic enforcement sometimes takes a backseat," Henson said. "Sometimes it has to take a backseat because officers have to take calls for service that take priority."
However, as a member of the accident reconstruction team, Henson said they always investigate what happened.
"There are charges of the negligent homicide manslaughter that can come out of these cases that have to be handled delicately and investigated to the fullest," Henson said.
LRPD says some of the most common spots for accidents include:
- University Ave
- Roosevelt Road
- Markham Street
- Baseline Road
- Geyer Springs Road
Little Rock police said they are trying to bulk up traffic enforcement where they can.
"We try to keep up as much as we can with where it happens and try to get some selective enforcement in the area," Henson said.
Meanwhile, Henry said adding a new stop sign or crosswalk in problem areas isn't always easy legally because the number of cars and pedestrians must warrant the change.