Fewer Highway Deaths Reported in PA.

The number of people who lost their life in traffic accidents on Pennsylvania highways last year was lower than the state has seen since it started keeping records in 1928. 1,256 died on state roads in 2009. PennDOT Secretary Allen Biehler says the previous low was 1,328 in 1944. In 2008 the commonwealth saw 1,468 traffic fatalities. Biehler attributes the low number to extra efforts by PennDot and state and local police. PennDOT distributed $11 million in federal funding last year for aggressive and impaired driving enforcement. Biehler says, “Unfortunately, many of the fatalities we see every year could be prevented if people would follow some simple rules: always wear seat belts, never drink and drive and obey the speed limit.”