The Department of Transportation has reported that traffic deaths are at the lowest they have been in 60 years.  The number of people who died on U.S. roads fell 9.7% from 2008 to result in 33,808 traffic deaths in 2009.  This is the lowest total of traffic deaths reported since 1950, when there was just one-fifth the number of vehicles on the road than today.

This unprecedented progress is attributed by Barbara Harsha to various safety-related factors like increased seat belt use, stricter enforcement of drunken-driving laws, improved roads, and safer vehicles.  Harsha is the executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Traffic deaths are decreased in every category.   Motorcycle fatalities fell by 850 from 2008, ending 11 years of consistent fatality increases.  The motor vehicle fatality rate – calculated as the number of deaths per 100 million miles traveled - is the lowest ever, dropping from 1.26 deaths in 2008 to 1.13 in 2009.  Drunken driving deaths have also dropped by 7.4%.

Forty-one states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have all reported reductions in traffic fatalities, led by Florida and Texas.

Since being named Transportation secretary in 2008, Ray LaHood has focused on curtailing distracted driving, especially related to cell phone and handheld device usage.  LaHood calls distracted driving “an epidemic,” given how common cell phones are among Americans and how often American either talk or text while driving.

While the nationwide decrease in traffic deaths is both historic and promising, a growing number of highway safety advocates and transportation officials are pushing for a goal of zero traffic fatalities.  The approach, called Toward Zero Deaths, is based on the philosophy that even a single road death is morally and ethically unacceptable.  The ultimate goal with Toward Zero Deaths is to modify behaviors that lead to fatalities, including speeding, drunken driving, distracted driving and the failure to buckle up.

“Traffic Deaths At Lowest in 60 Years,” Larry Copeland, USA Today.  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-09-1Aroaddeaths09_ST_N.htm
“Traffic Deaths Down, But Not Low Enough,” Larry Copeland, USA Today.  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-12-traffic-deaths_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip