Get a group of people together and the conversation will invariably lead to traffic complaints.

That holds true for the county sheriff.

As Island County’s population increases and the county becomes more urbanized and less rural, residents and law enforcement officials alike are concerned about keeping streets safe.

The new Island County sheriff has traffic on his radar.

Sheriff Mark Brown, who was a Washington State trooper for 30 years before his election last November, is developing a number of strategies to tackle traffic troubles, including working with his former employer, the State Patrol.

A statistic that grabbed Brown’s attention when he took office in January: Traffic accidents were the number one killer in Island County last year.

Brown said road safety issues concern everyone in Island County, especially because of the number of fatalities.

“We didn’t have any homicides in the county last year, but traffic accidents killed 14 people. This is unacceptable,” he said.

In 2006, 12 people died in collisions on Whidbey Island, one in Oak Harbor and two on Camano Island. Nine of those killed on Whidbey Island were on county or city roads; seven of those killed on Whidbey Island were not wearing seat belts and seven were killed in alcohol- related accidents. Only nine people died in traffic accidents in 2005.

“Clearly our emphasis should be on traffic safety,” Brown said.

Though the county is isolated, it’s still the fifth densest in the state when it comes to population.

Brown announced the creation of a one-man traffic unit in the county, and said the deputy who will dedicate his time and efforts to traffic enforcement and the investigation of collisions.

“It’s time to take action,” Brown said. “And to have a deputy committed full time will help.”

Deputy Lane Campbell is the new traffic cop for the county.

“Lane is dedicated to anything that has to do with traffic throughout the county,” Brown said.

“Lane is an excellent collision investigator. He will free up deputies for other calls,” the sheriff added.

Under a perfect scenario, the county would expand its traffic focus even more.

“Ideally, I would like to assign a traffic deputy to each of the three precincts,” Brown said.

Campbell has been an officer for 22 years and has worked traffic investigations previously. He said a vehicular homicide is investigated just like any other crime scene.

“We treat the scene just like someone was killed with a gun,” Campbell said.

Brown said many people shared their worries about traffic during his campaign, and he heard similar comments after the election.

“It’s especially fresh in everyone’s mind on the South End because of the fatality in January caused by a DUI driver that killed Greenbank resident Karen Gervais,” Brown said.

Brown’s office is also banding together to coordinate traffic safety efforts with the Washington State Patrol to conduct emphasis patrols in the county.

Because one-half of the fatalities involve drivers who didn’t fasten their seat belts, the Washington State Patrol is coordinating efforts with Campbell to conduct seat belt emphasis patrols.

Troopers will be conducting such patrols throughout the county in the near future, including the South End.

The emphasis patrols have already started on the north end.

“We began on Highway 20 and Ault Road south of Coupeville,” said Sgt. Jason Longoria of the Washington State Patrol’s Oak Harbor detachment.

Washington State leads the nation in seat belt compliance. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the state ranked first with a 96.3 percent compliance rate in 2006, followed by Michigan (94.3), Oregon (94.1) and California (93.4).

In spite of the frequent use of seat belts in Washington, Longoria said the goal is to get everyone to buckle up.

“Speed, impaired drivers and drivers not wearing their seat belts are three of the biggest causes of motor vehicle fatalities in the state and country,” Longoria said.

Longoria, who serves as the supervisor of the Oak Harbor detachment from Clinton to Sharps Corner, said he has seen a number of people seriously injured or killed in collisions that could have been saved if they had been wearing seat belts.

Longoria said that emphasis patrols are important in not only improving highway safety, but they play a critical role in removing dangerous and impaired drivers before they cause crashes. Such patrols also assist law enforcement in solving other crimes.

“Traffic stops and emphasis patrols often lead to solving other crimes such as DUIs, drug trafficking or finding someone with an outstanding warrants,” Longoria said.

“Criminals have to get from point A to point B and they usually do so in cars,” he said.

Don’t be surprised to see State Patrol troopers patrolling county roads either.

“It is a misconception that we just patrol the highway,” Longoria said.

“When we stop someone, we are looking at the big picture, not just that one individual, but the number of people killed or injured in traffic collisions,” he said.

“Our overall motivation is to save lives and reduce collisions,” Longoria said.