PennDOT Announces Traffic Deaths at New Low in 2017

PennDOT Announces Traffic Deaths at New Low in 2017

4/16/2018-HARRISBURG

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced
that
traffic deaths in Pennsylvania reached a new low in 2017, dropping to
1,137,
the lowest since record keeping began in 1928, and 51 less than 2016.

"Pennsylvania has continued to defy national crash trends by steadily
decreasing the number of deaths on our roadways," PennDOT Secretary Leslie
S.
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."

While the number of highway deaths dropped in many types of crashes, there
were
significant decreases noted in impaired driver, pedestrian, and
unrestrained
fatalities. Fatalities in impaired driver crashes dropped from 341 in 2016
to
246 in 2017. 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.

Aside from the year-to- year decline, longer term trends also continue to
decrease. For example, compared to 2013, there were 71 fewer total traffic
deaths, 203 fewer deaths in crashes involving impaired drivers, and 47
fewer
unrestrained deaths.

There were some types of crashes which saw fatality increases in 2017.
There
were 153 fatalities that occurred in crashes involving drivers aged 75
years or
older, up from 132 in 2016. Also, fatalities in red-light running crashes
increased to 35 from 28 in 2016. Finally, fatalities in work zone crashes
increased from 16 to 19.

The department also recently unveiled additional enhancements to its
Pennsylvania Crash Information Tool (PCIT) website, www.dotcrashinfo.pa.gov

which uses reportable crash data from law enforcement to assist in
reviewing
this data. Users can now select a geographic location using a map by using
a
drawing feature that helps select a specific geographic area, like a public

neighborhood, school or other geographic area, so that the map displays the

reportable crashes for the selected location.

In addition, from 2013 to 2017, PennDOT has invested more than $395 million
in
Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program funds on 458 unique safety
projects.
During that same timeframe, another $50 million was invested in low-cost
safety
improvements at approximately 3,600 locations. Examples of low-cost safety
countermeasures include centerline and edge-line rumble strips, and signing
and
pavement markings. PennDOT also invests about $20 million annually in
federal
grant funds for safety education and enforcement efforts statewide.

More information on highway safety and PennDOT's safety initiatives is
available at www.penndot.gov/safety.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ashley Schoch, 717-783-8800

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