Deaths From Traffic Accidents Down 3% So Far This Year

Deaths caused by traffic accidents have fallen by 3% in the first five months of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. In addition, there has been a 7% reduction in the number of accidents with injuries to those involved.

This is the third year in a row that deaths caused by traffic accidents have fallen, and it is part of an overall trend that has seen the annual number of people killed in accidents fall by 30%. During that period, there was an increase of 30% in the overall number of hours people traveled by car, so the reduction is even more impressive, safety officials said.

The reduction in deaths benefited Jewish drivers mostly; in the first five months of 2018, 89 people died in traffic accidents in the Jewish sector, compared to 70 in 2019. In the Arab sector, there was an increase in the number of dead in accidents, rising to 36 in the 2019 period, compared to 30 in the first five months of 2018. In addition, nearly all the improvement came in travel on highways; 48 people died in highway accidents in the first five months of 2019, compared to 57 in 2018. On rural roads, the situation was the opposite; 72 people died during the period in 2019, compared to 67 in 2018.