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Traffic deaths continue to rise across Oregon Medford traffic deaths may be down, but traffic fatalities have increased significantly across the county and the state. At least one fatal traffic accident took place in Jackson County during every month of 2001, said Sally Gilpin of the Oregon State Police General Headquarters Office in Salem. Through Dec. 10 of this year, 27 traffic fatalities were tallied in Jackson County, Oregon Department of Transportation officials said. Fatalities statewide were 470, bringing the number of fatalities to 10 percent above last year's. Last year's total was 22 countywide and 425 throughout the state for the same dates. Forty-one fatal crashes on Oregon's highways claimed 45 lives in November, Gilpin said. Eight of these crashes were alcohol-related and four involved excessive speed, Five fatalities may have been prevented if the vehicle's occupants had been wearing seat belts , Gilpin said. In addition, nine fatal crashes last month - three in Jackson County - involved pedestrians, six of whom were walking in the roadway and wearing dark-colored clothing, Gilpin said. "It's a recipe for disaster," said OSP Lt. Dan Durbin. Dermot Taaffe, a 53-year-old transient, was killed on Nov. 23 while walking along a dark portion of Highway 99 just north of Ashland. In December, two men were killed while walking along roadsides. Ronald Lee Willis, 38, of Medford, died on Dec. 6 when he was struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run accident on Beebe Road around 10 p.m. Walter Abraham Oliver, 70, of Central Point, was killed the next day around 8 p.m. on Upton Road in Central Point. OSP officials say the top three killers of drivers in Oregon are excessive speed, failure to use safety restraints and driving under the influence of intoxicants. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.