The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is extremely pleased with the announcement of the lowest fatality rate on record and the reduction in total fatalities, injuries and alcohol-related fatalities. State efforts to increase safety belt usage through high visibility mobilizations and their continued focus on impaired driving have begun to pay off. 

However, there is still much work to do.  Motorcycle fatalities increased for the sixth year in a row.  Sport utility vehicles (SUV) rollovers increased, and GHSA believes that speed was probably a factor in those crashes. Large truck crashes increased slightly again.

In GHSA’s view, impaired driving has to be addressed in a more comprehensive, systematic way.  Enforcement of safety belt laws has to move beyond national mobilizations. A greater national focus must be paid to the role speed plays in crashes.

GHSA is committed to working with NHTSA and other federal and state partners to achieve the ambitious goal of 1.0 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled by 2008.

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is the nonprofit association representing the highway safety offices of states, territories, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Indian Nation. Its members are appointed by their Governors to administer federal and state highway safety funds and implement state highway safety plans. For more information, contact GHSA at (202) 789-0942 or visit www.ghsa.org.