By James Limbach
ConsumerAffairs.com
March 12, 2010
The nation's highways have become a lot safer in the past year, with the number of overall traffic fatalities reported at the end of 2009 at the lowest level since 1954 -- the 15th consecutive quarterly decline.
According to early projections by the Department of Transportation (DOT), the fatality rate, which takes into account the number of miles traveled, reached the lowest level since record-keeping started.
"This is exciting news, but there are still far too many people dying in traffic accidents," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "Drivers need to keep their hands on the steering wheel and their focus on the road in order to stay safe."
The projected fatality data for 2009 place the highway death count at 33,963 -- a drop of 8.9 percent from the 37,261 deaths reported in 2008. The fatality rate for 2009 declined to 1.16 fatalities per 100 million Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) compared with 1.25 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2008.
"This continuing decline in highway deaths is encouraging, but our work is far from over," said National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland. "We want to see those numbers drop further. We must continue our efforts to ensure seat belts are always used and stay focused on reducing distracted and impaired driving."
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) attributes the decline in 2009 to a combination of factors that include, high visibility campaigns like "Click It or Ticket" to increase seat belt use, and "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest," which helps with the enforcement of state laws to prevent drunk driving and distracted driving. In addition, the agency credits safer roads and vehicles and motorists driving less.
NHTSA annually collects crash statistics from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to produce annual reports on traffic fatality trends. The agency intends to update 2009 estimates regularly as more data become available. The final counts for 2009 will be made available this summer.
Separately, Wyoming has become the 20th state to enact a statewide ban prohibiting drivers from texting while behind the wheel. The new ban will allow law enforcement officials to ticket anyone caught texting while driving in Wyoming.
"Wyoming has taken an important step to eliminate distracted driving," said LaHood. "Texting while driving, like talking on cell phones while driving, is dangerous to the driver doing it and all of those around them."
According to research by NHTSA, nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver, and more than half a million were injured.
In 2009, more than 200 distracted driving bills were considered by state legislatures and legislative activity is expected to remain strong in 2010.
On February 22, LaHood unveiled sample legislation developed by NHTSA to be used as a starting point for crafting new state laws to prohibit texting while behind-the-wheel.
The sample state law is patterned on the Executive Order issued by President Obama on October 1, 2009, directing federal employees not to engage in text messaging while driving government-owned vehicles or with government-owned equipment. Federal employees were required to comply with the ban starting on December 30, 2009.
In addition, on January 26, LaHood announced federal guidance to prohibit texting by drivers of commercial vehicles such as large trucks and buses. Truck and bus drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750.
LaHood announced the department's plan to pursue that regulatory action at the Distracted Driving Summit he convened in September 2009. The department recently launched a federal website, distraction.gov , as a forum and information clearinghouse.
