Utah, Arkansas and Montana have made the greatest progress among states in cutting traffic deaths during the last two years, according to National Safety Council figures quoted in the Reporter, monthly publication of the Highway Users Federation. Utah, in that period. succeeded in cutting traffic deaths from 5.7 to 3 per 100 million vechicie miles of travel. Arkansas cut the ratio from 6 in 1972 to 4 in 1974, and Montana from 7.3 to 4.7. The three states obviously needed substantial improvement in the safety ratio since the 1974 national death ratio per 100 million vehicle miles of travel was only 3.6. This, incidentally, was the lowest on record and amounts to a 16 per cent reduction from the 1973 rate of 4.3 The year 1974 marked a decisive turnaround toward a lower level of annual traffic fatalities. Motor vehicle deaths in ’74 were estimated at 46,200 in preliminary safety council figures, a 17 per cent reduction from the 55,800 fatalities recorded the previous year. The decrease of 9600 traffic deaths was the largest annual drop in 30 years. During the l960’s the annual number of traffic deaths either rose by several thousand or remained essentially unchanged from the previous year, and in the early 1970s there were both increases and decreases. But 1974 turned the tide! Accompanying the nationwide reduction in the speed limit to 55 miles an hour was a marked drop in fatalities. Now safety officials are hoping the gains can be continued as the nation works toward its 1980 goal of an annual death rate of no more than 3 per 100 million miles of travel. The goal was set by the Highway Users Federation, National Safety Council, and 40 other organizations at the National Highway Safety Conference in Washington, D.C. last May 57. Safety officials have estimated that 74,500 persons will die in traffic mishaps in 1980 if the 1972 death rate of 4.5 – which resulted in 56,600 deaths, highest annual toll on record – is permitted to continue. Each state was assigned its own reduction quota in meeting the 1980 goal. Utah beat the time schedule by achieving the magic 3 per 100 million vehicle miles of travel in 1974. But can we stick with a figure no greater than that’? The answer will be decided by the combined safety habits of a lot of drivers. Certainly one way to keep on the safety track is to adhere to the 55-mile-per-hour limit. A lot of drivers are violating the rule and unless this stops a broader breakdown of driving discipline could result.