Resources Safety Related Articles NHTSA: Overall Traffic Fatalities Decreased in 2008
NHTSA: Overall Traffic Fatalities Decreased in 2008 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Staff   
Thursday, 06 August 2009 00:00
Finally, a chart showing decline that we can all feel good about.

With stock prices and state revenues generally on a downward slope and with unemployment skyrocketing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released figures last month from its annual Fatality Analysis Reporting System that reveal the fewest traffic fatalities nationwide since 1961. The 37,261 crash-related deaths in 2008 also represented a nearly 10 percent decrease from the previous year’s total of 41,259.

Passenger car occupant fatalities dropped for the sixth year in a row, reaching the lowest level since NHTSA began keeping records. Light truck occupant fatalities also fell for the third straight year, and alcohol-impaired fatalities declined by more than 9 percent over 2007.

Sub data on fatalities tied to crashes involving school buses during normal morning and afternoon school commute hours is expected later this year, said Doug Snyder, a school transportation consultant who creates that specific report.

While the 2008 NHTSA figures also represented the 12th consecutive quarterly decline, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the nation still has a long way to go. One disturbing trend revealed in the 2008 Fatality Analysis Reporting System is that motorcycle deaths increased for the 11th straight year and now account for 14 percent of all highway fatalities.

Meanwhile, the fatality rate for the first quarter of 2009 reached 1.12 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Preliminary data collected by the Federal Highway Administration also showed that vehicle miles traveled during the first three months of 2009 declined by about 11.7 billion miles.
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