Transportation Deaths Down Overall

In our line of work the focus often seems to be on the negative, Metro's failures that resulted in the June 22nd Fort Totten crash or texting drivers on the beltway. But the fact is that there are many measures of good news in our transportation systems.

The National Transportation Safety Board reports that transportation deaths were down between 2007 and 2008. http://www.ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2009/090929.html

This good news, that overall fatalities fell from 43,000 to 39,000, is offset by steadily increasing deaths for motorcycle riders and their passengers. This should come as no suprise to regular readers of this website.

Aviation and marine deaths were also up. Bus and  commercial motorcoach deaths nearly doubled.

The reasons for the changes are not commented upon in this latest NTSB press release but a variety of our numerous articles and blogs on wrongful death truck, car, and motorcycle crashes offer some likely explanations. http://www.maryland-law.com/library/analysis-of-maryland-car-accident-truck-crash-motorcycle-fatalities.cfm