Friday, April 22, 2005

SUV deaths rose in 2004

More are killed in alcohol-related crashes and rollovers as national rate drops.

By Jeff Plungis / Detroit News Washington Bureau

By the Numbers   2003 2004 (estimate) Highway deaths: 42,263 42,800 Death rate*: 1.48 1.46 Motorcycle deaths: 3,661 3,927 SUV deaths: 4,446 4,666 Alcohol-related deaths: 17,013 16,654 *number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

WASHINGTON -- The number of people killed in SUVs and in rollovers rose last year, even as the nation's overall highway fatality rate -- deaths per miles traveled -- fell to its lowest point ever, the government said Thursday.

In its preliminary projections of fatality statistics for 2004, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 42,800 people were killed on U.S. highways, up from 42,643 in 2003.

Michigan bucked the national trend with a 10 percent drop in fatalities. There were 1,159 highway deaths in Michigan in 2004, down from 1,283 in 2003, said Nikki Klemmer, spokeswoman for the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.

"We are in the midst of a national epidemic," U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said. "If this many people were to die from any one disease in a single year, Americans would demand a vaccine. We already have the best vaccine available to reduce the death toll on our highways -- safety belts."

Nationally, the key measure of the death rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled fell to 1.46 from 1.48. It's the lowest level since NHTSA began tracking data nearly four decades ago.

Seat-belt use reached an all-time high - 80 percent - last year. But 56 percent of the people killed in vehicles last year were not wearing seat belts.

Safety officials pointed to a few factors to explain the increase in fatalities. While fewer people were killed in cars and pickups, the number of SUV deaths rose from 4,446 to 4,666. SUV rollover deaths shot up 6.9 percent, and SUV driver deaths related to alcohol use increased 8.5 percent.

Auto industry officials said the increase in SUV fatalities was occurring at about the same rate as increased SUV sales. Eron Shosteck, spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers in Washington, said SUV sales went up about 4 percent last year.

"Automakers are heartened that the overall fatality rate is declining," Shosteck said. "But we would like it to decline further. Safety technology is having an impact. But even with all of the new technologies, the most important piece of equipment remains the safety belt."

Consumer advocates say additional safety requirements under consideration are justified since the overall number of deaths has remained steady for a decade. The Senate Commerce Committee approved several safety mandates -- including those designed to protect occupants in rollover crashes -- in a highway spending bill it passed last week.

"The cold, hard reality is we are stuck in neutral," said Judith Lee Stone, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a Washington consumer group.