Fatalities

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that an estimated 33,963 people died in traffic accidents in the U.S. in 2009. This is an 8.9 percent drop from 2008's total and the lowest recorded number of fatalities since records began to be kept in 1954.
  
  

Causes

• According to the Smart Motorist website, traffic accidents are caused by four main things: equipment failure, roadway design, poor road maintenance and driver behavior. In around 95 percent of the cases, driver behavior is the cause of an accident in combination with an additional cause.
  
  

Aggressive Driving

• The Smart Motorist explains that aggressive driving behavior is a major cause of traffic accidents. The New York State Police describes aggressive behavior as including using excessive speeds, frequent lane changes, failure to signal and tailgating.