Arizona car crashes show significant drop

PHOENIX -- Motor vehicle crashes on Arizona's highways and roads continue to drop significantly, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

In its "2010 Crash Facts," report, ADOT said road fatalities in 2010 dropped 5.46 percent from 2009, continuing a reduction from 2006 when 1,301 people died, Arizona's highest-ever number of fatalities.

There were a total of 106,177 crashes in 2010, down from 143,503 in 2006.

"It doesn't make sense. There are a lot of things that are driving these crashes down," said Kyle Danielson with Invision Auto Body. "Photo raders, the traffic flow and lagging left arrows, all of those things are really bringing the recorded accidents down."

Accident frequency by miles traveled declined significantly. In 2006, there was one accident for every 435,000 miles driven, while in 2010 the accident rate declined to one crash in every 564,000 miles driven, a 30 percent increase in miles driven between accidents.

The decline in crashes could help explain why collision repair businesses continue to see declines in available work, despite a slow climb in total miles driven in the country, according to Leading Edge Auto Refinishes Inc., in Tempe.

"We're just not seeing the work coming in the door that we used to see, back a few years ago," Danielson said. "It's been a drastic decline, the industry as a whole has slowed down."