
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 12, 1993                   TAG: 9308120047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

HIGHWAY DEATH TOLL DOWN AGAIN

Highway deaths fell last year to the lowest level since 1961, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

It credited tougher drunken-driving laws, better-built cars and more widely available safety de-vices such as air bags. But it said alcohol continues to be a problem.

Saturday is the most lethal day to be on the road, followed closely by Friday and Sunday, the private institute said. Its report was based on federal and state figures.

There were 39,235 highway deaths last year, down from 41,508 in 1991 and the lowest since the 38,091 in 1961. In the past decade, the highest number was the 47,087 in 1988.

Alcohol impairs driving even when the concentration in the bloodstream is as low as 0.02 percent, the insurance institute con-tended. States generally permit much higher alcohol levels before imposing penalties.

For drivers whose blood alcohol content exceeds 0.15 percent on weekend nights, the group said, "the likelihood of being killed in a single-vehicle crash is more than 380 times higher than it is for non-drinking drivers."

Saturday accounts for 20 percent of weekly fatalities; Sunday and Friday are tied for second at 16 percent each.

The report said that at all ages males have much higher highway death rates than females.

Among fatally injured male drivers, 44 percent had blood alcohol levels above 0.10 percent, compared with 22 percent of women.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB