Highway fatalities are down sharply

Traffic deaths in the United States last year dropped to the lowest level since 1994 and deaths per 100 million miles traveled are the lowest on record, the government said Thursday.

In 2007 there were 41,059 highway fatalities overall, which is 1,649 fewer deaths than the previous year. The traffic fatality rate dropped to 1.37 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, said Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.

“Thanks to safer vehicles, aggressive law enforcement and our efforts, countless families were spared the devastating news that a loved one was not coming home last year,” Peters said. “You can be sure we’re not stopping here. The quest is not over until that bottom line number is zero.”

Peters said 2.49 million people were injured last year in traffic crashes, 84,000 fewer than the year before and the lowest total since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began compiling injury data in 1988.

Alcohol-related traffic deaths – those involving a driver or motorcyclist with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher – fell by 3.7 percent to 12,998.

Amid the encouraging news for drivers, a troubling trend continues: Motorcycle fatalities rose for the 10th straight year, to 5,154, the highest total since NHTSA began collecting fatality crash data in 1975.

“Motorcyclist fatalities now account for an alarming 13 percent of total traffic fatalities,” said Christopher Murphy, chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association. He attributes the rising deaths of motorcyclists to “a patchwork of helmet laws, an explosion in motorcycle ownership, inconsistent and inadequate licensing requirements and lack of adequate safety education funding.”