Pa. vehicle crash deaths fall to lowest level ever recorded

In past 15 years, they are down 22 percent

Fewer people were killed in vehicle crashes last year than in any other year since record-keeping began in 1928, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reported Wednesday.

PennDOT said 1,195 fatalities occurred in the state last year, down slightly from the 2013 total of 1,208. The number of crashes also fell, from 124,077 in 2013 to 121,309 last year.

In Allegheny County, 59 people died in crashes in 2014, down from 65 the year before.

The results add to a long trend of reduced fatalities in Pennsylvania and the nation. Over the past 15 years, the number of highway deaths in the state has fallen 22 percent. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in December that U.S. highway deaths have decreased 25 percent in the past decade.

Several improvements over the years have reduced the number and severity of crashes, said Kara Macek, spokeswoman for the nonprofit Governors Highway Safety Association, based in Washington, D.C.

Crash avoidance technology has been added to many newer vehicles and enforcement and education campaigns have reduced drunk and distracted driving, she said.

“Cars today are stronger and sturdier. If a crash does happen, you’re more likely to survive it,” Ms. Macek said. “And we’ve made phenomenal progress on seat belts over the last three or four decades.”

In a statement, acting PennDOT secretary Leslie Richards said the department has spent $50 million in the past five years for safety improvements at about 4,000 locations, including centerline and shoulder rumble strips. It also spends about $20 million per year for safety education and enforcement.

Chelsea Pompeani, spokeswoman for AAA East Central, said the decline in Pennsylvania deaths was “a huge accomplishment” and a signal that education programs are succeeding.

The results are tempered by a recent finding by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety that distractions were a factor in 60 percent of crashes involving teen drivers. “Distracted driving is the No. 1 killer of teens and at an all-time high,” Ms. Pompeani said.

Deaths among drivers 16 and 17 years old were up in the state last year, according to the PennDOT report, rising from 27 in 2013 to 37 last year. Fatalities also increased for drivers 65 and older, from 277 in 2013 to 300 in 2014, a rise of 8 percent.

PennDOT reported significant declines statewide in deaths of occupants not using seat belts and in DUI-related crashes. Deaths of unbuckled vehicle occupants fell from 425 to 383, a decline of nearly 10 percent, and fatalities in DUI crashes dropped from 342 to 294, or 14 percent.

Ms. Macek said it is likely that the safety gains from increased seat belt use and reduced drunk driving are nearing a plateau. The next frontiers for safety advocates, she suggested, are speeding and distracted driving.

“It’s an elephant in the room. Speeding remains culturally acceptable and everyone does it,” she said.

“People have learned that it’s not OK to drink and drive, but people have not learned that it’s not OK to talk [on the phone] and drive or text and drive.”

Ms. Macek said more research on driver impairment from substances other than alcohol also is needed, especially with the increasing number of states legalizing medical and recreational use of marijuana.

PennDOT on Tuesday debuted a website with extensive data on crashes, injuries and fatalities, at dotcrashinfo.pa.gov. The data goes back to 1997 and is divided into numerous categories, including vehicle type, crash type and certain age groups. Statewide and individual counties’ data is available.