ST. LOUIS
The nation last year saw the largest drop in traffic deaths in more than a decade, which led to the lowest highway fatality rate ever recorded, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Monday.Last year, 42,642 people died in traffic crashes, a drop of 868 deaths from 2005. That 2% decline contributed to the historic low fatality rate of 1.42 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, Peters said.
"Tough safety requirements and new technologies are helping make our vehicles safer and our roads less deadly," she said. "But we all must do more when so many are killed or seriously hurt on our roads every day."
Fatalities of occupants of passenger vehicles — cars, SUVs, vans and pickups — fell to 30,521, the lowest annual total since 1993. Injuries were also down, with passenger car injuries falling 6.2% and large truck injuries 15%, Peters said.
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