Home > The Cone Zone > Archives > 2007 > May > 31 > Entry
Traffic Deaths Down Slightly in 2006
Preliminary stats from the U.S. Department of Transportation show that the number of people killed on our nation’s highways dropped last year.
The decrease — 43,300 from 43, 443 in 2005 — could change when the final assessment is released this summer.
Needless to say, federal highway officials say there’s still plenty of cause for concern.
Alcohol-related fatalities increased 2.4 percent and the number of motorcyclists killed jumped 5.4 percent.
Other statistics showed a 3.7 percent decrease in fatalities from large truck crashes; a 2.3 percent decrease in pedestrian deaths and a 0.6 percent drop in the number of bicyclists who were killed.
Another disturbing fact is that 55 percent of the people killed in car crashes were not wearing seat belts.
“Bad things happen when people don’t buckle up, and no one is immune from the damage and devastation that comes from not wearing a seat belt,” DOT Secretary Mary E. Peters said.
And here’s something everyone can relate to. The economic loss of last year’s highway crashes totaled $230.6 billion. That’s $820 per person.
Something to think about next time you hammer down the accelerator on I-95.
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Comments
By Jack
May 31, 2007 3:28 PM | Link to this
C’mon Chuck, 43,000 deaths is a significant and tragic number. I don’t recall it changing much one way or the other, even pre-MADD or pre-airbag days, even as the population of the country grows.
Also continually rising are our ‘vehicle miles driven’. For comparison, between 1995 and 2005, yearly passenger car miles driven rose from 1,438,294,000,000 to 1,689,965,000,000 according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. This represents an increase of 251,671,000,000 miles. That works out to about one death per 3.7 million miles driven versus what it was a decade ago: closer to one death per 3.2 million miles traveled. That’s a huge improvement. Don’t forget these numbers don’t include motorcycles, trucks, combinations or buses. Cumulatively, our total miles driven for all our roadways and all our vehicles for that last year were a staggering 2,989,807,000,000. Keep in mind it’s about 93,000,000 to the Sun.
So, while we’re talking huge numbers, we’re also talking about a huge misrepresentation both in the media and the federal government informing the public about the risk, which each year drops considerably once the mathematics is completely realized. Our roads become safer and safer each year. Our cars become safer and safer each year. Our truck drivers are more stringently trained and monitored each year. Our law enforcement, first responders and hospitals improve year after year.
About the only thing that’s dropping faster in real numbers is newspaper circulation.