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Transportation Secretary Calls Highway Fatalities an Epidemic

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Published: May 02, 2005

The problem of highway traffic deaths is a "national epidemic," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta as he announced in April mixed results in the effort to reduce the number people who die on U.S. highways each year.

"If this many people were to die from any one disease in a single year, Americans would demand a vaccine," said Secretary Mineta. "The irony is we already have the best vaccine available to reduce the death toll on our highways � safety belts."

It is estimated that 42,800 people died on the nation's highways in 2004, up slightly from 42,643 in 2003, according to the projected data compiled by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in a preliminary report.

The report also projects the seventh straight increase in motorcycle fatalities. In 2004, 3,927 motorcyclists died, a 7.3 percent increase. In 2003, there were 3,661 motorcycle fatalities, the report said.

Traffic crashes come at an enormous cost to society, Mineta noted. NHTSA estimates show that highway crashes cost society $230.6 billion a year, about $820 per person.

"Sadly, traffic crashes continue to be the leading cause of death in American children and young adults," said NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge, M.D. "While seat belt use, at 80 percent, is at an all-time high, we could save thousands more lives each year if everyone buckled-up".

NHTSA also is projecting the following changes between 2003 and 2004:

� Passenger car occupant fatalities declined by 2.4 percent and pickup deaths dropped 2.0 percent while sport utility vehicle (SUV) deaths rose 4.9 percent.

� Injuries dropped from 2.9 million to 2.8 million, a decline of 4.6 percent.

� Overall alcohol-related fatalities dropped 2.1 percent from 17,013 to 16,654. At positive blood alcohol content (BAC) levels under .08, fatalities dropped 9.8 percent.

� In 2004, 56 percent of occupants killed in passenger vehicles were not wearing safety belts, a rate that was unchanged.

� Fatalities from large truck crashes increased slightly from 4,986 to 5,169 in 2004.

� The number of fatal crashes involving young drivers (16-20) increased slightly (from 7,353 in 2003 to 7,405).

� The number of registered vehicles increased from 230.8 million in 2003 to 235.4 million in 2004.

NHTSA annually collects crash statistics from 50 states and the District of Columbia to produce the annual report on traffic fatality trends. The final 2004 report, pending completion of data collection and quality control verification, will be available in August.

Read Full Story at National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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