PennDOT Reports Record Low Number of Highway Deaths in 2009

According to officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the number of highway fatalities in Pennsylvania in 2009 dropped to 1,256, the lowest number since record-keeping began in 1928. The previous low number was from 1944. In 2008, the number of highway deaths was 1,468.

Significant decreases were also noted in unrestrained, alcohol-related, and aggressive driving fatalities. PennDOT attributed the reductions, in part, to the increased funding that led to an increase in traffic safety programs and an increase in law enforcement efforts to crack down on impaired and/or aggressive drivers. Another factor may have been the implementation of low-cost safety engineering measures like the rumble strips on shoulders, center line rumble strips, signage improvements, traffic signal improvements and safer utility pole placements.

Other factors may be that drivers were driving less, or slower, with the increased gas prices and the poor state of the economy over the past year or so.

Source: Triple-A North Penn News, March-April, 2010 edition.