US road safety continues to improve

Road safety continues to improve according to the latest figures from the US Department of Transportation. The recorded data shows that in 2009 the US had the lowest level of traffic fatalities since 1954.
February 7, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

Road safety continues to improve according to the latest figures from the 324 US Department of Transportation. The recorded data shows that in 2009 the US had the lowest level of traffic fatalities since 1954. This is the 15th consecutive year that fatality rates have fallen. The projected fatality data for 2009 places the highway death count at 33,963, a drop of 8.9% as compared to the 37,261 deaths reported in 2008. The fatality rate for 2009 declined to the lowest on record, to 1.16 fatalities per 160 million vehicle km travelled (VKT), down from 1.25 fatalities per 160 million VKT in 2008.

It is extremely significant too that fatality rates are now lower than in 1954, when significantly fewer vehicles were on the roads and when average speeds were lower. Some of these safety gains can be attributed to laws against drink driving, instalment and mandatory use of seatbelts and improved car design with the development of crumple zones and ABS brakes. However US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood cautioned, “There are still far too many people dying in traffic accidents. Drivers need to keep their hands on the steering wheel and their focus on the road in order to stay safe.”

The 834 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 decline is also the result of safer roads, safer vehicles and motorists driving less. “This continuing decline in highway deaths is encouraging, but our work is far from over,” said NHTSA head David Strickland. “We want to see those numbers drop further. We will not stop as long as there are still lives lost on our nation’s highways. We must continue our efforts to ensure seat belts are always used and stay focused on reducing distracted and impaired driving.”

NHTSA annually collects crash statistics from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to produce annual reports on traffic fatality trends.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Video developments in automatic incident detection
    May 22, 2012
    David Crawford reviews technological progress with automatic incident detection Highway safety problems are likely to intensify given recent predictions of future traffic growth across the world. In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that currently over 30,000 deaths and 1.5 million injuries occur as the result of accidents on the nation’s roads each year. These figures will increase with the number of kilometres travelled each year in the US expected to gr
    Read More
  • Will you allow winter weather to derail your transit operations?
    June 8, 2021
    JW Speaker's SmartHeat allows transportation managers to improve public transit safety
    Read More
  • Google Glass ‘as dangerous as texting while driving’
    September 29, 2014
    Texting while driving with Google Glass is clearly a distraction, a new University of Central Florida UCF) study has concluded, but there is a twist. In the study, texting Glass users outperformed smartphone users when regaining control of their vehicles after a traffic incident. The study, conducted in cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory, is the first scientific look at using Google Glass to text while driving. Distracted drivers are a hazard on the road and according to the National S
    Read More
  • USDOT ‘accelerating on V2V technology’
    May 15, 2015
    The US Department of Transportation (US DOT) is accelerating its timetable on a proposed V2V rule that would require vehicle-to-vehicle equipment --technology that allows cars to ‘talk’ to one another-- in all new vehicles. V2V technology is a critical element of the connected automation that makes driverless cars as safe as possible. Writing in the USDOT Fastlane blog, Transportation Secretary Antony Foxx announced that he has directed the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) t
    Read More

Highlighted Content