California registered a record low number of highway fatalities in 2008, the second year of reduced deaths on state roads, according to preliminary numbers. The state counted 3,487 road deaths last year, a 12 percent decrease from the previous year, and the lowest number since 1975 when officials began the current counting system.
The trend may be connected to Californians driving less. Gas consumption in the state has dropped consistently since 2007, attributed by some to the recession and to last year's spike in gas prices. But, the decrease in fatalities began before gas prices jumped, safety officials said.
Chris Murphy, head of the state Office of Traffic Safety, cited the state's recent focus on reducing drunk driving and on the ever-increasing number of Californians who use seat belts, now more than 90 percent. Drunk driving typically kills more people than any other road death cause, data show.
"I think we are seeing a trend that hopefully will last for many years go come," Murphy said.
The data was released Monday by National Highway Transportation Safety Administration officials. More detailed California numbers on crash causes will be released later this year. Those will include Sacramento area statistics. California Highway Patrol officials said there has been a growth in the popularity of safety classes for teen drivers, aging drivers and motorcycle drivers.
The California data mirror national trends. The national highway safety agency reported Monday that 37,313 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2008, the lowest number since 1961.
One local official said in some places congestion itself may be a factor. As streets clog, cars must go slow, reducing the number of high-speed crashes, Roseville Police Department's Dee Dee Gunther said. "You may have more bumper-thumpers, but you aren't getting as many injury crashes as when people put the throttle down."
State traffic safety head Murphy said the news is not entirely good, however. "We're still killing almost 10 people a day in traffic here in California," he said. "That's 10 too many."
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