US highway deaths fall in 2018 for second straight year

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government’s road safety agency says traffic deaths fell by a small amount for the second straight year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration attributed the 2.4% drop partially to technology in newer vehicles that can prevent crashes. A total of 36,560 people died on the nation’s roads in 2018, the latest full-year statistics available.

The agency says the downward trend is continuing into 2019. First-half estimates show fatalities down 3.4%.

But pedestrian deaths rose 3.4%, and the number of people killed on bicycles and other pedaled vehicles went up 6.3%. People killed in large-truck crashes rose just under 1%.

The overall declines in 2017 and 2018 came after two years of large increases blamed on people driving more as the economy improved.