Vehicular Deaths Are Down, But Motorcycle Deaths Rise

October 2009

There's good news and bad news for United States motorists – traffic accident deaths have dropped almost 18 percent since 2005, according to statistics released by the Transportation Department. However, trending in the opposite direction are motorcycle deaths, which rose steadily through the end of last year.

Government officials and safety experts said that the reasons behind the decrease in vehicular deaths could include:

• Poor economy and high gas prices reducing the number of miles driven
• Safer cars with air bags, antilock brakes, and stability control systems
• A decrease in drunk driving accidents
• Safer construction of highways
• Restrictions for teen drivers
• Increased seat belt use

Despite the decreases, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stresses that traffic fatalities are still too common. In the first half of this year, 16,626 people were killed in crashes. Experts said that there are a few areas that especially need improvement, including driving while drowsy and using electronic devices, like cell phones, behind the wheel.

Another area that may require more attention is motorcycle accidents. Fatalities were on the rise through the end of 2008 (no data was available for the beginning of 2009). There were 5,290 deaths last year, composing 14 percent of all fatalities, compared to 2,116 in 1997, which accounted for 5 percent of all fatalities.