NTSB: Transportation fatalities fall

Total transportation deaths dropped by about 9 percent from 2008 to 2009, according to The Post's Dr. Gridlock:

The preliminary figures include highway, rail, aviation, pipline and marine fatalities. The total in 2008 was 39,569 and fell to 35,928 in 2009, the NTSB said.

"While statistics show that transportation fatalities have declined this past year," said NTSB Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman, "we continue to see far too many accidents in all segments of the transportation community. There is still much work to do to prevent the loss of life on our roads, rails, waterways, and skies."

Highway deaths, which make up about 95 percent of all transportation fatalities, fell from 37,423 in 2008 to 33,808. Last month the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that road deaths had fallen to their lowest level in 60 years.

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