In what comes as incredibly counterintuitive (and wonderful) news, the number of people killed in automobile accidents continues to drop in Colorado and across the nation – even as we drive more.
For all of 2009, fatal car crashes totaled 464. That’s a 15 percent drop from 2008, when 548 people died in Colorado car crashes, and the first time the toll dropped below 500 in 30 years, according to Colorado Department of Transportation data.
That is astonishing when you consider that for the last three years excluding 2009 (for which the numbers aren’t yet in), drivers in Colorado logged an average 48.4 billion miles annually.
Similarly, 2008 saw 1.27 deaths per 100 million miles across the U.S., according to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
At the state level, fatalities peaked in 2002, when 743 died in car crashes. Yes, any death is one too many, but considering the risk that driving represents, such a low number of fatalities is notable.
The fact that the fatality rate has consistently dropped year after year is the result of many improvements.
Design changes and safety features in cars and trucks have made them much more effective in preventing crashes and helping riders survive them. From antilock brakes to passenger airbags, automobile safety has seen tremendous advancements.
Roadways also have benefited from engineering advancements. Driver education programs and public-safety programs have improved drivers’ habits.
Government programs aimed at public safety, stricter regulations on alcohol limits and laws requiring seat belts and when teenagers can have licenses have played a role.
The increased safety on roadways is also startling considering the short shrift that transportation infrastructure receives presently. Roads once were heavily supported by fuel taxes, but that support has significantly eroded at the state and federal levels.
In Colorado, a panel of experts has said the state needs as much as an extra $1.5 billion a year to maintain and upgrade transportation infrastructure, yet so far lawmakers have been able to raise far less. The so-called FASTER law that increased vehicle registration fees is expected to raise but $250 million a year.
Cars often are maligned by transit planners who are more focused on pricey multimodal transportation systems, like the Regional Transportation District’s troubled FasTracks expansion. We support multimodal transit. But the car remains king when it comes to our nation’s mobility, especially out West.
And there is no reason to believe they won’t continue to get safer as technology improves and public awareness of safe driving habits is enhanced.
