"At the Department of Transportation, we are laser-focused on our top priority: safety," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "Today's announcement shows that America's roads are the safest they've ever been. But they must be safer. And we will not rest until they are."

As the newly released Fatality Analysis Reporting System data and other statistics also confirmed, last year marked the lowest levels ever for traffic fatality and injury rates. There were 1.13 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled last year, compared to 1.26 fatalities during 2008. A total of 41 states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico experienced reductions in traffic fatalities in 2009.

"The details in the 2009 data demonstrate the hard work of state DOTs and the benefits of collaboration among all safety partners," said Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel, chairman of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Standing Committee on Highway Traffic Safety. "While there has been a significant decrease in the number of lives lost on our nations' highway each year, there is still a long way to go as we move 'Toward Zero Deaths' on our nation's highways."

In addition, deaths declined in all categories of vehicles last year. Motorcycles, for example, saw fatalities drop by 850 from 2008 -- breaking an 11-year cycle of annual increases for that transportation mode.

The number of truck-involved deaths fell 20% from 4,245 in 2008 to 3,380 in 2009 -- marking a historic low, as well as a 33% decrease in those fatalities since the current regulations regarding how many hours a truck driver may be behind the wheel first took effect in January 2004.

Alcohol-impaired driving deaths declined 7.4% from 11,711 in 2008 to 10,839 last year. Overall, 33 states and Puerto Rico experienced a drop in the number of deaths in that category in 2009 compared to the previous year.

The number of individuals injured in motor-vehicle crashes in 2009 fell for a 10th consecutive year, dropping an estimated 5.5% from 2008.

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland attributed these declines to record seatbelt use and strong anti-drunk-driving enforcement campaigns.

"But we are still losing more than 30,000 lives a year on our highways, and about a third of these involve drunk driving," he said. "We will continue to work with our state partners to strictly enforce both seatbelt use and anti-drunk-driving laws across this nation."

The updated FARS data is available at tinyurl.com/Traffic-Data-Report.