Oregon Public Broadcasting

Last year was the safest on record for traffic fatalities in Washington.

The state's Traffic Safety Commission reported Thursday that the number of deaths per vehicle miles traveled in 2009 hit its lowest level in state history.

In raw numbers, the commission says about 500 people died on the stateís roads last year, the lowest number since 1955.

The agency's M.J. Haught says that's in part because 97 percent of Washington drivers buckle up.

M.J. Haught: "You've now got your five-year-old child reminding Mommy to put her seat belt on. It's really a change from a generation ago when it was not the norm to wear your seat belt."

Haught also credits safer cars and a broadbased statewide campaign to reduce vehicle deaths for the decline.

She says impaired driving and speeding are still the top two causes of fatal crashes. But she says young drivers and distracted drivers are quickly working their way up the list.