Online-only: U.S. traffic deaths drop to lowest level since 1949
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* Teddi Dineley Johnson

Decades of public health interventions aimed at preventing deaths on the nation’s roads are making a difference. For the fifth year in a row, the number of people killed in car crashes in the United States has dropped, according to new federal estimates.

In 2010, about 32,800 people lost their lives due to motor vehicle crashes on the nation’s roads, according to new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics. The numbers have decreased each year since 2005, when approximately 43,510 people died, according to NHTSA. The 3 percent decrease from 2009 brings the number of road deaths to the lowest level since the federal government began keeping records in 1949.

The decline in traffic deaths came even as Americans logged about 21 billion more miles on the nation’s roads last year, said NHTSA, which attributes the decline to numerous interventions aimed at promoting stronger traffic safety laws, rigorous vehicle safety programs, stricter enforcement of laws and public awareness campaigns.

“Last year’s drop in traffic fatalities is welcome news and it proves that we can make a difference,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “Still, too many of our friends and neighbors are killed in preventable roadway tragedies every day. We will continue doing everything possible to make cars safer, increase seat belt use, put a stop to drunk driving and distracted driving and encourage drivers to put safety first.”

Released April 1, the annual traffic crash data show the steepest declines in the Pacific Northwest, where motor vehicle deaths were down 12 percent in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Traffic deaths fell by nearly 11 percent in Arizona, California and Hawaii in 2010.

“The decrease in traffic fatalities is a good sign, but we are always working to save lives,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland, JD. “NHTSA will continue pressing forward on all of our safety initiatives to make sure our roads are as safe as they can possibly be.”

While traffic deaths are down nationally, some regions of the country saw road death rates climb in 2010. New England experienced the sharpest increase, with traffic deaths up by about 18 percent in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Road deaths also increased in the Midwest, rising by nearly 4 percent in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Though rates of automobile fatalities and injuries per driver and per mile driven have decreased substantially, motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for the nation’s teens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about eight teens between the ages of 16 and 19 died every day from motor vehicle crash injuries in 2009. Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely to crash than older drivers, according to CDC.

To view “Traffic Safety Facts,” NHTSA’s statistical projections of traffic fatalities in 2010, visit [www.nhtsa.gov](http://www.nhtsa.gov).

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association