The number of people killed on U.S. highways fell by 9.2% in the first half of this year from a year earlier, continuing a trend that began in 2006, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Deaths in vehicle crashes in the U.S. have declined for 17 consecutive quarters, the longest stretch since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began collecting data in 1975, the agency said.
NHTSA said highway deaths fell to 14,996 from January through June, down from 16,509 for the same period last year.
In a speech to the Governors Highway Safety Association in Kansas City, Mo., NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said the slumping economy had reduced discretionary driving, helping to lower fatal accidents.
Traffic deaths last year fell to the lowest level since 1950 and the safety agency in a report this month credited the slumping economy, higher seat-belt use and campaigns to combat impaired driving, Bloomberg reported.
Earlier this month, NHTSA figures showed that truck-related highway deaths fell to a record low for the third consecutive year. (Click here for previous story.)
