Skip to main content

California traffic deaths drop for fifth consecutive year

California saw a decline in overall traffic deaths for the fifth year in a row. According to federal government figures, total vehicle fatalities dropped 11.9 per cent, from 3,081 in 2009 to 2,715 in 2010. Since the latest high of 4,333 in 2005, the 2010 figures show a total decline of 37.3 per cent.
April 20, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSSCalifornia saw a decline in overall traffic deaths for the fifth year in a row. According to federal government figures, total vehicle fatalities dropped 11.9 per cent, from 3,081 in 2009 to 2,715 in 2010. Since the latest high of 4,333 in 2005, the 2010 figures show a total decline of 37.3 per cent.

The 2010 figures are the lowest for the state since 1944, when one tenth the number of vehicles travelled one sixteenth the number of miles. While the economy has some effect, officials also point to high visibility enforcement, sobriety checkpoints, multiple public awareness campaigns, safer car construction, better road design, and faster emergency medical services as factors.

"Well-managed traffic safety campaigns by law enforcement throughout the state targeting dangerous driver behaviour is a factor in the continued reduction of traffic-related deaths and injuries," said 1855 California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joe Farrow.

Under a shared vision of Toward Zero Deaths – Every 1 Counts, state and local agencies and organisations have been developing and implementing the California Strategic Highway Safety Plan since 2006. OTS, CHP, 923 California Department of Transportation, Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 834 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 831 Federal Highway Administration, county and local governments, as well as individuals and community organisations like 4949 Mothers Against Drunk Driving have been actively pursuing work on over 150 specific actions contained within Plan.

So that 2012 will continue the gains, the Office of Traffic Safety has now announced $76 million from federal funding to support 213 traffic safety grants to state and local agencies for the grant year that begins on 1 October, 2011. The new grants are a combination of time-tested, successful programmes and emerging efforts, some tackling new problems.

Related Content

  • Golden Gate Bridge to debut all-electronic tolling
    March 11, 2013
    After two years of planning, all-electronic tolling will begin on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge on 27 March. In 2011, when the bridge district was facing a five-year shortfall of US$89 million, the Highway and Transportation District approved a plan to pursue all-electronic tolling as a cost-saving measure. The district will trim its expenses by US$16 million over the next decade as a result of the new system. According to bridge district spokeswoman Mary Currie, the bridge will be the first in Califo
  • 1,000 Nissan Leaf EVs sold in Norway in just six months
    April 30, 2012
    Nissan in Norway has announced that it has sold 1,000 of its electric Leaf cars in just six months, taking almost two per cent of the total car market in February this year demonstrating the impact of comprehensive incentives and developed charging infrastructure. The government support and charging infrastructure have helped the Nissan Leaf become the second best-selling Nissan in Norway and the ninth best-selling passenger car overall in February. Norway has the highest level of support in Europe for elec
  • Debating the future development of ANPR
    July 31, 2012
    What future is there for automatic number plate recognition? Will it be supplanted by electronic vehicle identification, or will continuing development maintain the technology's relevance? In recent years, digitisation and IP-based communication networks have allowed Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to achieve ever-greater utility and a commensurate increase in deployments. But where does the technology go next - indeed, does it have a future in the face of the increasing use of, for instance, Dedi
  • Deadlines approach for Europe’s automatic crash alert system
    September 15, 2016
    The EU-co-funded I_ HeERO (Infrastructure_ Harmonised eCall European Pilot) project is working to ensure the readiness of national networks of call centres - known as public safety answering posts (PSAPs) - to deal with automated crash alerts arriving via the continent-wide 112 emergency phone number. Following on from its HeERO and HeERO2 pre-deployment predecessors, which enjoyed €16m (US$17.76m) in EU funding, the new initiative runs from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017. It has €30.9 million (US$34.