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Updates about automotive fatalities are usually bad news. But according to a study conducted by The Wall Street Journal, the number of road fatalities in 2009 was 33,963 compared with 43,510 in 2005, which is a 22 percent decline. It is the steepest rate of decline since automobiles entered mass production in the beginning part of the 20th century. Additionally, fatalities continue to drop year-over-year.
The study suggests that safety technology continues to improve, and that new technologies are now filtering down to more affordable vehicles that are owned by more and more drivers. Deaths from side-impact crashes, for example, have declined more quickly than the decline rate for overall deaths, meaning that more people are surviving these types of accidents because of the availability of airbags in more car models.
Another interesting statistic noted in the study is a drop in fatal accidents during rush hour driving periods compared with 2005. Researchers theorize the economy gets the credit for that good news. More people not working means fewer people who hit the road during rush hour.
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