The Nation : Traffic Death Rate Reported Lowest Ever
The 1987 traffic death rate was the lowest in U.S. history, Transportation Secretary James H. Burnley IV announced, crediting wider use of safety belts and a crackdown on drunk driving. The preliminary 1987 fatality rate of 2.4 deaths per 100 million miles of travel was down from 2.5 in 1986 and dropped more than 25% from the 1980 rate of 3.3. Burnley, in releasing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics, said an estimated 46,000 people were killed in 1987 as a result of traffic accidents. The overall death figure was not the lowest, with 42,589 people killed in 1983. But the total of miles driven last year was the highest in history. Burnley said new figures estimate the benefits of voluntary safety belt use at 8,035 lives saved and 95,500 injuries prevented since 1983.
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