The Floyd County Police Department has produced a video  update on the surging number of fatal crashes in the community this year. Capt. Ron Hunton, who leads the agency’s traffic enforcement team, joins Sgt. Chris Fincher in the 12-minute video available above and on YouTube. At issue: Rome/Floyd County is now among the top 10 communities in Georgia with fatal accidents this year — and we’re just now at the halfway point. Also keep in mind: The Independence Day weekend — a huge travel period — begins this Friday evening.

In the broadcast, Hunton and Fincher discuss the leading causes of this year’s fatal accidents — aggressive driving, speeding and improper lane changes. As Hunton says, speed is involved in all three causes. They also target the most dangerous roads based on accidents including Shorter/Alabama Highway, Martha Berry (U.S. 27) and the Bypass included. And when do they usually occur? As the officers explain, when there is the most volume: Morning, evening “rush” hours.

Why the alarm?

Through Sunday, 15 people had died on roads in Floyd County. Between 2014 and 2019, Rome/Floyd County averaged almost 15 traffic deaths a year.  That number rises when considering ATV and farm accidents this year to 18. The lowest for the entire year was in 2017 and the highest, 24, in 2018. There were 15 fatalities in 2019, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety reports. We’ll have 2020 figures later today. Statewide, despite the pandemic and resulting lockdowns, traffic deaths were 1,615, the highest on Georgia roads since 1,641 in 2007.

A look at this year’s fatal accidents includes:

• June 13: A 72-year-old Rome man dies in an SUV accident.
• June 4: A Cave Spring man died in a single-car accident on U.S. 411 near the U.S. 27 intersection.
• May 3: One dead following on accident on Wax Road.
• April 22: Two die in a head-on collision in front of Berry College that shut down Martha Berry for three hours.
• April 19: A Rockmart woman dies in an early morning collision on Old Rockmart Road.
• March 12: A 19-year-old woman died in a three-vehicle accident near the Saga Inn on Martha Berry.
• March 4: A motorist died in a one-vehicle accident on North Avenue in Rome.
• Feb. 28: A father and son, 61 and 18, died when their car was hit by what police say was another speeding motorist.
• Jan. 29: A 53-year-old Rome man died in an accident on Ga. 20 near Old River Road.
• Jan. 15: A Rome woman, 38, died after being struck while walking on Cave Spring Road.
• Jan. 13: One died in a hit-and-run on South McLin Street in Rome.
• Jan. 7: A pedestrian fatality on Gadsden Road.
• Jan. 4:  A 23-year-old woman died in an accident on Ga. 156 and Floyd Springs Road.