Fewer fatal car wrecks reported in 2009

The number of fatal car crashes on Pennsylvania’s highways is at its lowest point since 1928. New Jersey and Delaware are also reporting decreases.
Last year, over 12-hundred people died in car crashes in Pennsylvania. But that marked a 14 percent drop from 2008.

By Meggan Kole

The number of fatal car crashes on Pennsylvania’s highways is at its lowest point since 1928. New Jersey and Delaware are also reporting decreases.

Last year, over 1200 people died in car crashes in Pennsylvania. But that marked a 14 percent drop from 2008.

Jenny Robinson with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation says  improved driver education, road improvements, and tough law enforcement efforts helped make the roads safer last year.

Robinson: A chief cause of highway fatalities is behavior. There’s a reason why we call them crashes and not accidents. Most of these highway deaths unfortunately don’t happen just accidentally or randomly. They happen because people are driving drunk or speeding.

Another factor that may have helped reduce the number of fatal car accidents last year is the recession. Jana Tidwell with AAA Mid-Atlantic says the fact is people are driving less because of the recession. With less people on the road, we are also seeing fewer road fatalities.