By Anthea Passmore
Buffalo, NY – An announcement on 2004 highway fatalities in the US was made in Buffalo Monday. Jeffrey Runge, administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, unveiled statistics at the Calspan crash test facility that show highway fatalities decreased for the second straight year.
Runge said attention paid to highway safety and the crackdown on impaired driving by states are factors in the decreasing numbers.
"Our comprehensive approach to impaired driving is working," Runge said. "Law enforcement, state highway safety professionals, the medical community, the media, community groups and anyone who has committed time and energy to traffic safety programs such as 'Click It or Ticket' and 'You Drink and Drive, You Lose' should be very proud of their dedication because it is paying off through lives saved on American roadways."
Information was documented state by state. Interestingly, the numbers for both 2003 and 2004 were the same in New York, just under 1,500 fatalities in each of those years.