Cullman Police Department

More enforcement of traffic laws has led to a 14 percent decline in car crashes over the past year, according to the Cullman Police Department.

In 2019, there were 982 collisions involving vehicles. In 2020, that number dropped to 839. In 2019, the Cullman Police Department issued 5,349 citations and warnings to drivers. In 2020, that number increased to 7,640.

“The enhanced enforcement of known violations that are causing vehicle crashes in designated high crash areas have reduced the number of vehicle crashes and prevented the number of fatal crashes from increasing,” said patrol division Sgt. Joey Duncan. “This was a major focus for the traffic unit and patrol division in 2020.”

Intersections are high-crash zones, with 512 of the accidents occurring there. Among the causes of wrecks are following too closely, failing to yield, misjudging stopping distance, improper lane changes, running traffic signals, improper backing and distracted driving.

Duncan said they’re seeing an increase in distracted driving, which leads to the No. 1 cause of collisions: following too closely.

Data collected by the patrol division also indicates weekends are the safest on the roadways, with 47 and 67 collisions occurring on Sunday and Saturday, respectively, in 2020. Friday had the highest amount of crashes, 162, followed by Thursday, 156.

Male drivers had more collisions than female drivers – 443 compared to 358 – and the No. 1 vehicles involved in accidents in the city of Cullman in 2020 were Chevrolets, 174, followed by Fords, 129.