The Toll Is Down

Motor vehicle accidents remain the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, but at the same time travel on the nation’s roads and highways is safer today than at any time in recent years. The National Safety Council reports that in the decade ending in 1986 the fatality rate for motor vehicle accidents fell by 8%. Significantly, this decline was achieved during a period that saw the driver population grow by 18%, the number of vehicles on the road increase by 27%, and the number of miles driven rise by a staggering 32%.

The council attributes the improvement in road safety to a number of considerations. Tougher laws and law enforcement against drunk drivers have undoubtedly helped to reduce the traffic death toll. So have laws requiring seat-belt use that are now in force in 27 states and the District of Columbia, and so certainly have rules adopted in every state governing child safety seats. Better engineering has made both cars and roads safer. The 55 m.p.h. speed limit has helped considerably. In 1984 the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated the lower speed limit had saved an average of 6,000 lives a year.

The road nonetheless remains a dangerous place. Last year, 47,800 persons were killed in motor vehicle accidents. That number is greater than the battle deaths suffered by the United States throughout the whole of the Vietnam War. It is greater than the total battle deaths suffered by Americans in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War and the Korean War. Motor vehicle travel is becoming safer. But it is still a long way from safe.