1,137 Traffic Deaths In Pennsylvania Last Year, An All-Time Low

Traffic deaths in Pennsylvania dipped to a new all-time low last year. In 2017, there were 1,137 traffic deaths, the lowest since record keeping began in 1928, PennDOT announced Monday. The number of traffic deaths in 2017 was 51 less than in 2016, according to state data.

PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards said the decrease in deaths is a result of a combination of education, effective enforcement, and safety improvements.

Significant decreases were noted in impaired driver, pedestrian and unrestrained fatalities, information from PennDOT said.

For example, in 2017, there were 246 deaths from impaired driver crashes. That's down from 341 deaths in 2016. Unrestrained fatalities also decreased from 408 in 2016 to 378 last year. There were 150 pedestrian deaths in crashes in 2017, compared to 172 in 2016.

Longer term trends also continue to show a decline. For example, PennDOT notes there were 71 fewer deaths in 2017 compared to 2013.

Some types of crashes saw fatality increases in 2017. Crashes involving drivers aged 75 years or older killed 153 people in 2017. That number is up by 21 deaths over 2016.

Red-light running crashes killed seven more people in 2017, and fatalities in work zone crashes increased from 16 to 19.

“Pennsylvania has continued to defy national crash trends by steadily decreasing the number of deaths on our roadways,” Richards said. “Our biggest priority continues to be getting the public to their destinations safely through educational outreach, the latest innovations, effective enforcement and low-cost safety improvements.”

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