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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 12, 1994                   TAG: 9403120095
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FEWER ROAD DEATHS PROVE EDUCATION CAMPAIGNS PAY OFF

That means that the billions of dollars invested in safer vehicles, better driver education and campaigns against drunken driving are paying off.

It also means that companies and municipalities are spending less on death benefits, legal claims, workplace disruption and other costs related to fatal traffic accidents.

U.S. highway traffic deaths are the lowest they've been in a decade. According to the latest data collected by the Transportation Department's Fatal Accident Reporting System and analyzed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in its 1993 Fatality Facts report, traffic accidents claimed 39,235 lives in 1992, compared with 41,508 in 1991 and 42,589 in 1983.

The deadliest highway year in the last decade was 1986, with 46,087 traffic deaths on U.S. roads.

More than half of all new cars sold in the United States last year were equipped with at least one air bag.

By the 1998 model year, all new cars sold in this country will have two air bags up front - one for the driver and another for the front-seat passenger.

But air bags are supplementary restraint systems; for maximum crash protection, seat belts must be worn. Since 1984, 45 states have enacted mandatory belt-use laws, and companies and municipalities nationwide have conducted driver education campaigns urging their use.

As of June 1993, 34 states and the District of Columbia authorized law officers to take the licenses of drivers who fail or refuse to take a chemical test for alcohol.

Keywords:
FATALITY