Deadly year so far on Austin roads

AUSTIN (KXAN) - 15 people have been killed on Austin roads so far in 2013, compared to eight traffic fatalities during the same time period in 2012, which was one of the deadliest years on Austin roads in recent history.

78 people died in traffic crashes in Austin in 2012.

"I've seen so much death, destruction, so many lives turned around in a fraction of a second and the sad thing that kind of angers me sometimes, is every one of them was preventable," said Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, who said he does not believe in traffic 'accidents.'

"These are not accidents," Acevedo said. 'We think it's a big mistake, well you know what, 99.9 percent of the time, somebody was driving too fast, not stopping for a red light, turning in front of somebody. It is behavior that causes people to lose their lives and there's no excuse for it."

After 2012's 47 percent increase in deadly crashes, Acevedo ordered his officers to step up enforcement and write more tickets.

"It's about saving lives. It's about not having to knock on somebody's door in the middle of the night and say that their loved one is dead," Acevedo said. "At the end of the day, the one thing that really causes people to change their behavior is when they get a ticket."

Of the 15 people killed on Austin roads so far in 2013, five were the result of speeding. Of the 78 fatalities in 2012, less than half were caused by an impaired driver.

"The last thing I'm going to tell people of this community is that we're pushing more and more that when we see that clear negligence, we're going to push for prosecution," Acevedo said.

He recalled the case of a city of Austin 911 call taker who was killed leaving work in 2009 when a speeding driver slammed in to her vehicle on 51st Street. Investigators said Melanie Wilkinson, 37, could not have survived the crash.

"Our investigation showed that the driver of the other vehicle was exceeding the speed limit," said APD accident reconstruction expert, Detective Richard Harrington.

The other driver, DeAngelo Maupin, was going 43 mph in a 30 mph zone.

"It doesn't sound like a lot," said Harrington. "But it was enough to take Melanie's life."

Maupin was ultimately charged with reckless driving and sentenced to 15 days in jail.