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Highway Deaths Plunge in 2008

Fewer drivers on the road means fewer accidents

February 6, 2009

In preliminary data provided by 44 states and the District of Columbia, 40 states and D.C. indicated a decline in fatalities, while four indicated an increase. Overall, the average decline was 10.7 percent.

Most surprising about the survey was that many states saw a percentage decline in fatalities higher than their percentage decline in Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). Most states are not yet able to release an indication of VMT from 2008.

Notably, however, of the 19 states that indicated a decline in fatalities and provided an estimate of VMT, 17 reported their fatality percentage decline was more than the percentage decline in VMT — in most cases double, triple or even quadruple the decline in VMT.

What does this all mean? GHSA Executive Director Barbara Harsha interprets the numbers to suggest that a variety of factors may have contributed to the declines in 2008.

"Clearly, the high gas prices in the first part of the year and the difficult economy in the second half caused people to drive less, thus reducing fatalities. However, there's more occurring here than just economic factors," said Harsha.

According to Harsha, state highway safety agencies report other factors may have contributed to the fatality reduction, including gains in seat belt use, stronger state laws and increased enforcement of these laws.

Harsha notes that many states have reported experiencing a reduction in driver speeds mainly because drivers want to improve their fuel efficiency. For example, the speed of the average Oregon driver was down more than 1 MPH in 2008.

This may not sound like a lot, but reducing driver speeds means that more people are surviving crashes," Harsha says.

"Drivers may not slow down to save a life, but clearly they will slow down to save a buck," Harsha said. She expects more states will use the economic argument to urge drivers to slow down.

GHSA's survey results mirror a December report from the U.S. Department of Transportation in which the federal government projected the number of people killed in traffic crashes would reach a new record low for 2008. Early DOT projections revealed a 10 percent drop in deaths for the first 10 months of 2008.

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