Traffic Deaths In 2011 Fell To Record Low In U.S. down nearly 2%

May 7 (Reuters) - Traffic fatalities on U.S. roads in 2011 fell to their lowest level since federal safety regulators started counting in 1949, the regulators said on Monday.

Preliminary data estimates that 32,310 people died in motor vehicle crashes last year, down 1.7 percent from 2010, said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Final figures will be issued later this year.

U.S. drivers drove 1.2 percent fewer miles in 2011, NHTSA said.

Rebecca Lindland, director of automotive research for IHS Inc, said more and better air bags, higher seat-belt use and vehicles designed to allow people to survive a crash are the main reasons for the decline in traffic deaths in recent years.

The rate of fatalities per 100 million miles driven in the United States last year was 1.09, down from 1.11 in 2010 and down from 1.46 in 2005, NHTSA said.

Traffic deaths have fallen 26 percent since 2005, when 43,510 people died in crashes, NHTSA said.

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