As many motorists prepare to set out for holiday journeys, they may be relieved to know that they are more likely to get to their destination intact as compared to previous years.
The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that traffic fatalities are down nearly 10 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, and if the trend continues through the end of the year, the number of deaths will be the lowest since records started being kept in 1966.
A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analysis estimates that 31,110 people died in crashes from January to October this year, which compares with 34,502 during the same time period last year.
Road deaths reached an all-time high in 1988, with more than 47,000 fatalities that year.
Even though the recession and recent spate of high fuel prices means that fewer people have been driving, the number of deaths is still statistically lower, because it is calculated on a per-mile basis, not by number of vehicles on the road.
Americans drove 100 billion fewer miles in the 12-month period from November 2007 through October 2008. There were approximately 1.28 fatalities per 100 million miles driven, compared with 1.37 in the first 10 months of last year.
Officials attribute the decline to the increased use of seatbelts, and to the fact that fewer people are driving while intoxicated. Alcohol-related deaths account for only 40 percent of all fatalities since 2004 (versus 60 percent in 1982), which is mainly due to law enforcement stepping up efforts to remove drunk drivers from the road.
By Karen Elowitt for PeterGreenberg.com.
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