Traffic deaths decreased from 1,230 in 2021 to 1,179 in 2022 in Pennsylvania, according to the state.

Reportable crashes were also down in 2022, amounting to the second lowest on record since 1951, according to a Thursday, April 27, news release from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

PennDOT focuses on data trends to drive enforcement and education improvements and invests approximately $23.5 million annually in federal grant funds statewide to support these behavioral safety programs, the news release said.

In addition to behavioral safety, PennDOT funds infrastructure improvements to roadways in an effort to further reduce fatalities and serious injuries.

About $482 million in Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program funds has been invested in 337 unique safety projects from 2017 to 2022. During that same time frame, another $50 million of state funds was invested in low-cost safety improvements at over a thousand of locations. Examples of low-cost safety countermeasures include centerline and edge-line rumble strips and high friction surface treatments.

While the overall number of highway deaths decreased last year, there were increases in several other crash types. Fatalities in distracted driving crashes and head-on crashes reached a 10-year high, while fatalities in crashes at signalized intersections reached a 20-year high.

Pedestrian fatalities reached the second highest number in 20 years, while fatalities in crashes involving 65- to 74-year-old drivers reached the third highest number in 20 years, the news release said.

“One life lost is one too many, especially if the death could have been prevented,” said Mike Carroll, acting PennDOT secretary. “We owe it to each other to slow down and pay attention when we’re driving because these unsafe behaviors put everyone’s life at risk.”