ROAD DEATHS DOWN IN U.S., BUT CALIFORNIA AN EXCEPTION.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

WASHINGTON - For the first time in six years, motor vehicle deaths fell last year, mostly because of increased use of seat belts, federal highway officials said Tuesday.

Fewer people in other types of vehicles and fewer pedestrians died, but deaths rose by 12 percent last year for those on motorcycle and motorbikes, and they are up 73 percent since 1997 because more people are riding them and fewer are wearing helmets.

For all types of vehicles, the number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled - a standard measure of highway safety - fell to an all-time low nationwide. The number of crash-related injuries also declined.

California hasn't been so lucky, according to preliminary 2003 traffic fatality statistics released Tuesday by the California Highway Patrol. The state has experienced moderate yearly increases in fatal collisions and other traffic deaths during the past six years.

Between 1998 and 2003, fatal collisions in the state increased 21 percent, from 3,075 to 3,728. The number of traffic deaths jumped 22 percent, from 3,459 to 4,228, according to CHP spokesman Steve Kohler.

Officer Leland Tang, with the CHP's West Valley division, said drunk driving and speed are the primary causes of the increase.

``We are continuing to work very hard on our DUI and speeding education,'' Tang said. ``It's very important for us to get the numbers down. This amount of death is unnecessary.'' Norman Y. Mineta, the U.S. secretary of transportation, said nearly 1,000 lives were saved nationwide last year because more people were using seat belts; he attributed the increase to tougher state laws and a federal campaign to encourage people to buckle up.

Highway officials were pleased that the number of motor vehicle fatalities declined by almost 1 percent - by 362 deaths, the equivalent of one major plane crash - but they said that the broader problem was still enormous.

``We will never refer to 42,643 people dying on our nation's roadways as a victory,'' said Dr. Jeff Runge, the administrator of the National Highway Safety Administration, referring to the number of deaths in 2003. ``But we were bound and determined to reverse the trend, and we have done so.''

He added, however, that demographic trends were working against highway officials, with the number of people over age 65 growing rapidly. Death rates among older drivers, passengers and pedestrians are sharply higher than for younger people.

The actual level of seat belt use is uncertain. The safety administration's estimate that 79 percent of vehicle occupants used seat belts in 2003 - up from 75 percent in 2002 - comes from roadside surveys conducted during daylight hours. One certain census of seat belt use is in fatal crashes, and Runge said that about 59 percent of dead drivers and passengers last year were belted, up from 55 percent in earlier years. That finding probably mirrors increased use among people as a whole, he said.

Alcohol-related crashes dropped by almost 3 percent, to 17,103. The number of deaths involving people with the highest alcohol concentrations dropped the sharpest.

The number of motorcyclist deaths rose to 3,662 last year, from 3,270 in 2002. Pedestrian deaths declined to 4,749, from 4,851.

A total of 2.9 million people were injured in all vehicle accidents last year. In 2002, 43,005 people were killed, and 2.93 million were injured.

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SOURCE: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

The New York Times