How many bureaucrats does it take to spin bad news into good? The communications office of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration might be a good place to look for the answer.

On April 21^st, NHTSA released preliminary traffic fatality data for 2004, showing an up-tick in nationwide deaths to approximately 42,800. Over the last decade, only 2002 had a higher number. Instead of sounding an alarm, NHTSA spun it into good news, reporting that fatalities per mile traveled dropped by 1.4 percent. The transportation system is killing more, but because Americans drive more, NHTSA claims safer roads. It doesn’t ask how deepening car dependence and its dangers should be addressed.

To be fair, NHTSA’s release did emphasize that total traffic fatalities increased in 2004. U.S. DOT Secretary Norman Mineta calls the problem a national epidemic, stating, "If this many people were to die from any one disease in a single year, Americans would demand a vaccine."

It’s a great sound bite, but its impact is lost when the feds at the same time emphasize that each individual driver’s or passenger’s chance of being one of 43,000 deaths has dropped a small amount. Does that make the agencies feel better about the deadly system they have helped create? Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death of Americans aged 3 to 33.

MTR back issues:

Go to index of all Mobilizing the Region back issues.