A Bit Of Good News

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were fewer traffic deaths in 2007 than in any of the last 48 years. There were 37,313 traffic deaths last year. To find a year with fewer deaths, you have to go all the way back to 1961 when 36,285 deaths were recorded.

That's a pretty amazing figure for 2007, especially when you consider that there are currently over 100 million more people in the United States than there were in 1961. I'm sure part of the reason is that cars are safer today than they were in 1961 (thanks to Ralph Nader). But the NHTSA credits most of the lives saved to the widespread use of seat belts.

Fortunately, Texas is on the right side of this issue. There is a mandatory seat belt law here, and both the local and state police do a very good job of enforcing it. Because of this, over 90% of Texas drivers use their seat belts. Others with a better than 90% use rate are Michigan, Hawaii, Oregon, California, Maryland, Iowa, Puerto Rico, New Jersey, Delaware, Indiana, Neveda, New Mexico, Illinois and the District of Columbia.

Texas has been on the wrong side of a lot of stats lately (teen pregnancies, dirty air and water, highest electric rates, school drop-out rates, etc.), so it feels good to see them on the right side of something. Mandatory seat belt laws are a good thing.

And kudos to the traffic cops who enforce those laws. They save lives every day.