Page 46 - PCCAJournal2ndQuarter2011

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PCCA Journal|2 nd Quarter 2011 46

Safety News

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Traffic Deaths Hit Record Low, But NSC Cautions Against Complacency T

he National Safety Coun-cil (NSC) announced in March that approximately 34,700 motor vehicle fatalities occurred in 2010. This marks a 3 percent decline from 2009 and the fourth consecutive year fatalities have decreased. Based on motor vehicle fatality trends of past recessions, NSC believes the present decline is partly a result of the poor economy. Fourth-quarter 2010 data re-flected a slight increase in fatalities, and NSC fears as the economy continues to rebound fatalities may rise.

“As encouraging as it is to see fatali-ties decreasing on our nation’s roads, the 2010 rate of decrease is less than a third of the previous year’s decrease,” NSC President and CEO Janet Froetscher said. “We must remain vigilant in addressing roadway safety issues where the greatest impact can be made, such as distracted and teen driving. As miles traveled start to rise again from recession lows, we want to ensure the continuance of this downward trend.”

NSC believes improved safety fea-tures in vehicles and greater visibility and enforcement of traffic safety laws

(including those related to child passen-gers, safety belt use, distracted driving, impaired driving and teen driving) also contributed to the decrease.

In addition to devastating human loss, motor vehicle crashes present a sig-nificant national cost in lost wages and productivity, medical expenses, admin-istrative expenses, employer costs, and property damage. The estimated cost of motor vehicle deaths, injuries, and prop-erty damage in 2010 was $236.6 billion, a 3 percent decrease from 2009.

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