Highway deaths on the run

Sometimes, it's helpful to step back and remember how it was. Just before New Year's Eve in 1965, the National Safety Council issued a press release that estimated 440 people would die in auto accidents over the holiday. This came on the heels of a Christmas weekend in which 720 people were killed, which set a record for the time. Back in those days, people were used to hearing and reading media reports predicting highways deaths before a big holiday.

Today the situation is different. In Utah, fatal auto accidents declined in 2009, continuing a trend. That trend is not confined to this area. For example, in Wisconsin, traffic deaths last year were lower than any time since 1944. In Illinois, the total number of traffic deaths for the year dropped below 1,000 for the first time since 1921. Final official figures aren't available, but 2009 was on track to record about 33,000 highway deaths nationwide. That compares to 55,704 in 1972.

These statistics provide a useful perspective as people wring their hands over drivers who use cell phones, either for talking or texting, and who engage in other distractions while driving: perspective, but not ease.

Yes, driving is safer than it has been in years. But that is no reason for states to back away from efforts to make it even better.

Transportation officials seem hard-pressed to give definite answers as to why things have improved. Certainly, roads have gotten safer. As we noted earlier in the year, a test of an 80 mph speed limit along certain stretches of I-15 around Scipio and near Fillmore showed that the added speed led to no increase in accidents. Interstates are well-designed and make head-on collisions virtually impossible.

Cars also are safer than in the past. Air bags, seat belts, child seats and other features keep drivers and passengers alive in accidents that would have been fatal in an earlier time.

But drivers deserve credit, too. Seat belt usage is up. Aging baby boomers are taking their feet off the accelerator. And alcohol-related fatalities declined in 44 states plus the District of Columbia in 2008, the last year for which figures are available.

Still, 33,000 fatalities are 33,000 too many. In Utah, a 2009 total of 238 is still too high, even though it is below the 276 in 2008 and 299 in 2007. Each fatality involves someone's son or daughter, or possibly mother or father. Lives are shattered; grief feels overwhelming.

Now that we have highway accidents on the run, the state should redouble its "Zero Fatalities" campaign. Every cell phone owner should know not to talk or text while behind the wheel. Every driver should make a point of staying alert and knowing when to pull over and take a nap.

There are many reasons to fondly remember life 40 or 50 years ago. Traffic records aren't among them, and the nation should never return to those days of highway carnage.