Good news: U.S. roads are safer than ever

Let us turn our attention away from the troubled skies for just one minute. The Transportation Department has just reported the lowest highway fatality rate ever recorded in 2006 and the largest drop in total deaths in 15 years.

Take a moment to let the enormity of that sink in.

Last year, 42,642 people died in traffic crashes, a drop of 868 deaths compared to the previous year, according to the government. That two percent decline in traffic deaths translated into an all-time low fatality rate of 1.42 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters credited tougher safety requirements and new technologies for the dramatic declines.

Any way you look at it, the numbers are nothing short of remarkable. Fatalities of occupants of passenger vehicles (including cars, SUVs, vans and pickups) continued a steady decline to 30,521, the lowest annual total since 1993. Injuries were also down last year, with passenger car injuries declining by 6.2 percent and large truck injuries dropping 15 percent, according to the Department of Transportation.

Equally remarkable — and, in my opinion, tragic — is the fact that this news will probably be completely overlooked by much of the mainstream media, which is fixated on the big planes and the congested skies. Yeah, there’s a story there, but the big story is that the roads are safer than they’ve ever been.

Perhaps this is the summer to skip the plane trip and to drive, instead.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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