“Welcome to the Snitzer report. I’m Lamb Snitzer, coming to you live today from the I-95 in Florida, ground zero in America’s war against highway fatalities. It’s a war, we now know, that is not going as planned. Later we’ll speak with one of the families paying the ultimate price in a battle that many former traffic officials say was misconceived from the start. But first let’s get the latest update from Joshua Blue at CNN’s War on Highway Fatalities headquarters. Josh?”

“Thanks, Lamb. Two weeks into the War on Highway Traffic Fatalities, some stark numbers tell a worrying story – 1,560 Americans have died in highway traffic accidents in the war’s first 13 days, putting us on track to exceed last year’s stunning 42,000 such deaths – and that’s before we count 3 million wounded. Experts say this means that in the last two weeks Americans have been dying on highways at more than 30 times the rate U.S. soldiers have been dying in the war against Iraq. Obviously the two wars are fundamentally different – in Iraq, brave U.S. troops are ousting a madman bent on mass destruction, with 46 to date sacrificing their lives so that all of us can live in safety. Still, the highway death toll helps explain why an increasing number of former senior traffic officials say the very idea of fighting these two wars at the same time was doomed – and that President Bush and the Department of Transportation have bitten off far more than they can chew.”

(Clip of “Former Traffic Administrator”): “Many of us said the plan was crazy. Local police departments are already strapped by budget crises – they simply haven’t put enough cops on the highway to mount this effort.”

(Josh): “As one jittery White House political aide told CNN, ‘Forget about who lost China – the new question may be, Who lost Route 66?’ Lamb?”

“Thanks, Josh. Time for a breaking news alert. Joining us is Jeffrey Grunge, former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and now a CNN analyst. What do you have for us, Jeffrey?”

“Lamb, the closely watched ratio of firearm-related deaths to traffic-related deaths has taken a troubling turn. Nationally, nine people are killed each year by firearms for every 10 on the road. But new data shows that in Texas, Nevada and Louisiana, firearm-related deaths have spiked well above highway deaths. This could mean these states have scored great success in lowering traffic accidents. But a number of us think it smells fishy, Lamb – and that these states are hiding behind shooting sprees to mask their deeper failure in the war on highway carnage. We’ll crunch the numbers and have more for you later. Lamb?”

“We go live now to the daily Transportation Department briefing with Secretary Norman Mineta.”

(Reporter): “Secretary Mineta, your own reports suggest that 11,000 traffic deaths last year were due to outmoded road design. Isn’t it unconscionable not to have done these upgrades before launching this war – especially on rural roads, where a disproportionate number of deaths occur? And when highway accidents are costing the nation an estimated $230 billion a year – three times the initial cost of war in Iraq?”

(Mineta): “We’re working on it. The plan is a good plan.”

(Reporter): “But how do you respond to the dissent being expressed from local police chiefs? One chief said, ‘We were told this would be a straightforward campaign of public service announcements on seat belt usage and road rage, plus stepped up speeding enforcement. But the morgues keep piling up. This is not the reality we had planned.'”

(Mineta): “Look, the police chiefs are terrific, but they’re looking at one chunk of highway – they can’t see the big picture. What’s with you in the press? We’re only two weeks into this!”

(Back to Lamb): “After a break we’ll go to CNN’s Rick Nobertson, now embedded with the Montana Highway Patrol, where today, just after dawn, an unpaved shoulder on Road 17 near Butte led to tragedy. Back in a minute with CNN’s continuing coverage of the War Against Highway Traffic Fatalities .”

Matt Miller is a syndicated columnist. His e-mail address is: [email protected].