Residents of Atlanta and surrounding areas will be pleased to hear their region receiving a positive report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in some of their latest data on car accidents and traffic safety. The reports show impressive decreases in the accident incidents across the United States, but especially in the region comprising the Southern and Mid-Atlantic states and the Western states; the Northeast saw large increases in accident incidents. This should come as welcome news to Atlanta and its neighbors in the Southern states, which traditionally lag slightly behind on similar metrics. Reports from the NHTSA show five-year declines in overall accident deaths between 2005 and 2010, from 43,510 to 32,788, and a one-year decline from the 2009 total of 33,808 accident deaths. This is despite a dramatic increase in the number of cars on the road and average miles driven per driver. The decline in accident fatalities from 2009 -10 for Atlanta and the Southern statistical region was in line with the national average of three percent, and although it lagged behind the average for the Western region, it still showed strong progress, especially in light of relatively robust economic growth in certain parts of the South and a probable attendant increase in the number of drivers. Especially encouraging was the decline in accident fatalities from drunk and intoxicated drivers, which still represents the largest single cause of car accidents in the United States. A decline of 7.8 percent between 2008 and 2009 continues a national trend, precipitated by aggressive campaigning beginning in the 1980s. Besides the decline in drunk driving accidents, the NHTSA attributes the improvements in road safety over the past decade to a number of factors, including safer vehicles, increased seatbelt usage—the bureau estimates that 85 percent...