Traffic collision deaths drop in state, CHP says

Four years after the California Highway Patrol received funding to increase patrol positions, preliminary numbers show that about 700 fewer people have died on the state's highways and unincorporated areas, according to CHP statistics.
To date, 540 new officers have been hired and are actively patrolling throughout the state.
The economic savings as a result are estimated at more than $3 billion, using statistics from the National Safety Council that approximates the average cost of fatal and nonfatal injuries from motor vehicle crashes. As a result of the projected lower fatalities, the mileage death rate -- a standard measurement of traffic safety that translates into the number of persons killed per 1 million miles of travel -- is anticipated to reach its lowest level in history for 2009.
For the first time in the department's 80-year history, all 103 field offices are now staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_14908372