THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 17, 1995 TAG: 9506170355
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 25 lines
Traffic deaths climbed to 40,676 last year, the second consecutive increase after a few years of declining deaths, the National Highway Traffic Safety administration reported Friday.
The fatality rate remained steady at 1.7 per 1 million miles traveled, because Americans also drove more, said NHTSA Administrator Dr. Ricardo Martinez.
``The trends are not continuing as we would like,'' said Martinez, adding that the problem may be a hard-core type of high-risk driver who is reckless, uses alcohol and doesn't use safety belts.
The 1994 toll was up from 40,115 highway fatalities in 1993, he said, and up from 39,250 in 1992.. by CNB