Vermont is on track to post a decrease in traffic deaths in 2007.
As of mid-December, 66 people had died on Vermont highways, compared with 87 in 2006 and 73 in 2005, according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Program.
Lieutenant John Flannigan says 2007 is probably one of the lowest years on record.
Steve Reckers, acting coordinator of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, says stepped-up policing played a role in reducing highway fatalities.
Among drivers aged 15 to 20, there have been six deaths, which is a four-year low.
But 2007 was a four year high for deaths among drivers 71 or older. That’s 17 deaths.
Reckers says the higher number of deaths among older people could be due to slower reaction time, declining vision and inability to survive crash injuries as well as younger people.