APD vows to enforce traffic laws better

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Coming off a deadly 2012 and following a deadly start to 2013, Austin Police took time Wednesday to plead with drivers to follow traffic laws.

They also promised to do a better job enforcing them.

“We are not pointing fingers,” said Lt. Justin Newsom. “We are not absolving ourselves at all. We have to do a better job of enforcing traffic laws.”

The comments came one day after Rodney Adam Carr and his 13-year-old son were killed while riding a motorcycle in East Austin.

Police say neither was wearing a helmet as required by law.

“Traffic deaths are high and it is inexplicable,” said Newsom. “They all start with a bad choice.”

But preventing the tragedies is not just about following laws, but enforcing the laws.

A record setting number of 80 people died in traffic accidents in 2012. Ironically, it happened during a year traffic citations written by APD continued to fall from previous years.

In 2009, APD wrote 264,428 traffic citations. That number fell to 188,585 in 2011 and down to 133,852 in 2012.

Last week, Chief Art Acevedo attributed the decline to diminished grants and funding but vowed to do what was necessary to make streets safer in 2013.

Of the 80 fatalities in 2012, 11 were motorcyclists.