The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has finished its count of 2007 crash fatalities in the United States, and the news is good. Traffic deaths are down nearly 4%. Injuries also declined, by over 3%. We still have a long way to go. Over 41,000 people died on the nation's highways –3,000 more than a capacity crowd at Boston's Fenway Park. Nearly 2.5 million were injured, more than the total attendance of all the games at Denver's Coor's Field all season.
The news was particularly bright for passenger cars, which saw a fatality decline of 7.8% and injury decline of 6.5%. The news was less good for light trucks (pickups and SUVs), which lagged with a 2.7% fatality decline and 1.9% injury decline. The news was atrocious for motorcycles which bucked the trend, with a 6.6% increase in fatalities, breaking the 5,000 deaths mark, and a whopping 17% increase in injuries, 15,000 more than the year before, shooting above the 100,000 mark. We are troubled and puzzled by the increased risk to motorcyclists, and will watch with interest for any explanations.
Many factors contributed to the overall safety increase. One likely contributor is the greater availability of cars with Electronic Stability Control – the safety system that helps motorists avoid loss of control by selectively braking or controlling power to individual wheels when a skid is detected. This system is predicted to dramatically decrease the number of accidents as it becomes included in more and more cars. We would not buy a new car without Electronic Stability Control, which is now widely available on a variety of vehicles in every price range. We strongly disapprove of manufacturers that offer ESC only as an extra-cost option. When that happens, dealers tend to not order the vehicles. When ESC is included as standard equipment, as it is in most Honda vehicles for instance, costs can be kept low for the consumer, and the accident danger to all of us is reduced. Other product improvements including elimination of lap-only belts in newer cars, greater availability of side curtain airbags, and more rollover resistant SUV, also likely contributed to the progress in crash injury prevention.
Driver factors also certainly played a role, including strong enforcement of drunk driving laws and graduated drivers licenses that have dramatically improved teen driver accident, death, and injury rates.
One other factor that has certainly contributed to lower death and injury rates: product improvements and safety demand from consumers resulting from product liability lawsuits and the awareness of dangers that they create.
We should applaud our progress as a nation in reducing the toll of the highway crash epidemic, but given the magnitude of the harm – over 41,000 families losing loved ones, and 2.5 million Americans suffering injuries each year – we need to continue to push for greater safety both vehicle design and driver behavior.
