We have talked about the fact that fewer people died in California motorcycle accidents during 2009. But California also had a significant drop in the number of people killed in all traffic accidents.
California car crashes killed 3,434 people in 2008. That number dropped by 10 percent in 2009. Not only were there fewer fatal motorcycle crashes, there were fewer fatal accidents of any kind on California roads.
There are a number of speculations about the cause of the decrease in fatal accidents. Some suggest that there are simply fewer drivers on California roadways because of the poor economy. Others point to increased safety features for cars. Still others suggest that the heightened DUI enforcement led to the change. In fact, all of these contributed to the drop in traffic-related deaths.
The California Office of Traffic Safety and California Highway Patrol applauded the recently released numbers. Christopher Murphy, the Director of OTS said, “These figures represent more people making it home safely and alive each day.”
However, Police officers and officials in OTS will continue working closely to make California’s highways safer for everyone. The 10 percent drop in traffic fatalities from 2008 to 2009 is a huge step, but 3,081 people still died in car crashes on California roadways.
Officials with OTS and CHP said we have a long way to go toward the goal of limiting the number of traffic -related deaths to zero. “To keep this trend going, we will need to strive to meet our vision – toward zero deaths, every one counts,” said Murphy.
