In 2011, traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities decreased dramatically over previous years in North Carolina as a whole. In Polk County, crashes and injuries were down in 2011, but fatalities increased by four.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) tracks vehicle wrecks statewide and by county and releases that data annually on its website at www.ncdot.com.
The data for 2011 shows that Polk County had five vehicle fatalities out of 390 total crashes. There were 165 vehicular injuries in Polk County in 2011, according to the report. In 2010, Polk County had 445 total crashes, one fatality and 182 total injuries from vehicle wrecks, according to the report.
The data from 2010 was an increase from 2009 in most areas for Polk County, with 388 total crashes reported in 2009, two fatalities and 158 total injuries, the report said.
Statewide, there were 232,600 crashes in 2011, with 1,208 fatalities and 106,423 injuries, compared to 237,652 total crashes in 2010, 1,323 fatalities and 109,067 total injuries, according to the report.
The state’s highest numbers regarding vehicle wrecks since 2000 came in 2007 when there were 241,947 total crashes resulting in 1,702 fatalities and 120,093 injuries, according to the report.
Polk County’s worst year since 2000 occurred in 2008 when the DOT reported 431 total crashes that resulted in nine fatalities and 182 injuries.  Vehicle wrecks resulted in seven fatalities in 2002.
Polk County’s traffic fatalities in 2011 included two men who died within a little over a week of each other. A 37-year-old man was killed in a one-vehicle crash along Hwy. 9 in Green Creek on Oct. 31, 2011 and a 28-year-old man was killed in a one-vehicle crash along Silver Creek Road in Mill Spring on Nov. 8, 2011. Speed was determined to be the cause of both fatalities, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol, who investigated both wrecks last year.

Polk County traffic crash report

Year    Crashes    Fatalities    Injuries
2000    349    0    227
2001    362    1    189
2002    349    7    221
2003    350    3    187
2004    383    1    190
2005    357    2    198
2006    338    2    148
2007    395    3    236
2008    431    9    182
2009    388    2    158
2010    445    1    182
2011    390    5    165