Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that in 2022, statewide traffic deaths decreased to 1,179 from 1,230 in 2021. Reportable crashes were also down in 2022, amounting to the second lowest on record since 1951.

 

Public safety is a top priority of the Shapiro administration. PennDOT’s commitment to reducing traffic crashes and fatalities builds on Governor Shapiro’s promise to ensure every Pennsylvanian feels safe in their community, including on the roadways.

 

“Pennsylvania is committed to moving toward zero deaths,” said Carroll. “Our biggest priority continues to be safe travel across all transportation modes, and we continue to work with our partners to decrease fatalities through education and enforcement.”

 

PennDOT focuses on data trends to drive enforcement and education improvements and invests approximately $23.5 million annually in federal grant funds statewide to support these behavioral safety programs.

 

In addition to behavioral safety, PennDOT focuses on infrastructure improvements to roadways in an effort to further reduce fatalities and serious injuries. Approximately $482 million in Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program funds has been invested in 337 unique safety projects from 2017 to 2022. During that same timeframe, another $50 million of state funds was invested in low-cost safety improvements at over a thousand of locations. Examples of low-cost safety countermeasures include centerline and edge-line rumble strips and high friction surface treatments.

 

“It certainly is good news that our fatalities are decreasing, but they are still too high,” said Acting PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “One life lost is one too many, especially if the death could have been prevented. Safety is everyone’s responsibility. We owe it to each other to slow down and pay attention when we’re driving because these unsafe behaviors put everyone’s life at risk. And buckle up! Your seat belt is your best defense against reckless drivers.”

 

With the overall decrease in traffic deaths, fatalities in several crash types reached new lows. These numbers indicate that Pennsylvania is rebounding from the high number of traffic crashes and fatalities seen nationwide throughout the pandemic.

• Fatalities in crashes involving speeding (second lowest in more than 20 years) – 169 fatalities, down from 201 in 2021.
• Fatalities in hit fixed object crashes (second lowest in more than 20 years) – 361 fatalities, down from 397 in 2021.
• Unrestrained fatalities (third lowest in more than 20 years) – 354 fatalities, down from 378 in 2021.
• Fatalities in crashes involving a 16–17-year-old driver (fourth lowest in 20 years) – 28 fatalities, down from 45 in 2021.
• Bicyclist fatalities (second lowest in 10 years) – 15 fatalities, down from 24 in 2021.
• Fatalities in local road crashes (second lowest in five years) – 196 fatalities, down from 214 in 2021.

 

While the overall number of highway deaths decreased last year, increases were noted in several crash types. Fatalities in distracted driving crashes and head-on crashes reached a 10-year high, while fatalities in crashes at signalized intersections reached a 20-year high. Pedestrian fatalities reached the second highest number in 20 years, while fatalities in crashes involving 65–74-year-old drivers reached the third highest number in 20 years.

• Fatalities in crashes involving distracted driving – 80 fatalities, up from 60 in 2021.
• Fatalities in head-on crashes – 181 fatalities, up from 151 in 2021.
• Fatalities in crashes at signalized intersections – 133 fatalities, up from 122 in 2021.
• Fatalities in crashes involving 65–74-year-old drivers – 169 fatalities, up from 163 in 2021.

 

Though motorcyclist fatalities decreased slightly, they reached a 10-year high in 2020, increasing further in 2021 to 226. Last year’s 217 fatalities ties 2020 for the second highest number in more than 10 years.

 

For more information on reportable crash data, visit PennDOT’s Pennsylvania Crash Information Tool (PCIT) website, www.crashinfo.penndot.gov. All crash download spreadsheets and the “Custom Query Tool” are updated with 2022 data. The 2022 “Facts Book” and “Public Crash Databases” will be available June 1.

 

For more information on the department’s highway safety initiatives, visit www.penndot.pa.gov/safety.

 

PennDOT’s media center offers social-media-sized graphics highlighting topics such as seat belts, impaired driving, and distracted driving for organizations, community groups, or others who share safety information with their stakeholders.

 

Subscribe to statewide PennDOT news and traffic alerts at www.penndot.pa.gov/news or choose a region under “Regional Offices.” Information about the state’s infrastructure and results the department is delivering for Pennsylvanians can be found at www.penndot.pa.gov/results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.

 

Follow PennDOT on Twitter and like the department on Facebook and Instagram.

FILE – This 1955 file photo shows Carolyn Bryant. Carolyn Bryant Donham, the white woman who accused Black teenager Emmett Till of making improper advances before he was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 has died Tuesday night, April 25, in hospice care in Louisiana, according to a death report filed Thursday, April 27, 2023, in Calcasieu Parish Coroner’s Office in Louisiana. She was 88. (AP Photo/Gene Herrick, File)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The white woman who accused Black teenager Emmett Till of whistling at and accosting her in 1955 has died. Carolyn Bryant Donham died Tuesday night at 88. That’s according to a death report filed Thursday in Westlake, Louisiana. Her claim against Till caused his lynching in Mississippi, and the brutal act galvanized a generation of activists to rise up in the Civil Rights Movement. Till’s kidnapping and murder gained international attention after his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in their hometown of Chicago so the world could see her 14-year-old son’s mutilated body in photos published by Jet magazine.

FILE – This undated photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a blacklegged tick, which is also known as a deer tick. Ticks will be more active than usual early in spring 2023, and that means Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections could spread earlier and in greater numbers than in a typical year. Ticks can transmit multiple diseases that sicken humans, and deer ticks, which spread Lyme, are a day-to-day fact of life in the warm months in New England and the Midwest. (CDC via AP, File)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — After a mild winter in the U.S., scientists are watching to see if there will be an uptick in ticks this year. More ticks this spring could mean a wider spread of Lyme disease and other infections. Deer ticks, which spread Lyme, are a day-to-day fact of life in the warm months in New England and the Midwest. In Connecticut, a state disease expert says they are already seeing more ticks than usual this month. It varies by region, but tick season generally stretches from April to October and Lyme disease cases peak in the summer.

FILE – This Jan. 14, 2013 file photo shows Bam Margera at the LA premiere of “The Last Stand” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Margera punched his brother in the face during an altercation at their home in the Philadelphia suburbs, then took off on foot, Pennsylvania State Police said Monday, April 24, 2023 in announcing criminal charges. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Invision/AP, file)

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — “Jackass” star Bam Margera has surrendered to Pennsylvania State Police for allegedly punching his brother during an altercation four days earlier at their home in the Philadelphia suburbs. Margera was arraigned Thursday and pleaded not guilty. That’s according to his lawyer, Michael van der Veen. State police say they were called to the Chester County home in response to a reported domestic disturbance Sunday morning. Margera’s brother, Jesse Margera, told police that Bam Margera assaulted him. Margera’s lawyer says the “wild rumors” are “absolutely false.” Bam Margera is free on $50,000 unsecured bail. He has another court date next month.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Appropriations subcommittee Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies budget hearing for Fiscal Year 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Growing anger at the FBI from both parties in Congress has become a major hurdle for U.S. intelligence agencies fighting to keep vast powers to collect foreign communications. Key lawmakers say they won’t vote to renew the programs under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without major changes. And many blame problems with how the FBI’s special agents handle what’s collected under Section 702 — along with publicly revealed mistakes in other intelligence investigations by the bureau. The program expires at year’s end.

The image above shows the “March Parklet” plaque on the wall of the Carnegie Library of Beaver Falls.
Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio News Director. Published April 27, 2023 12:28 P.M.    

(Beaver Falls, PA) Beaver Falls residents have voiced their opinions in regards to the name of a revamped park in Beaver Falls.  A recent post made on the Beaver Falls Community page on Facebook calls on residents to vote on a new name for the park next to the Carnegie Library of Beaver Falls.  The city has been working on the park making major improvements including a waterfall feature and new lighting, and it is set to be complete in the near future.  Names up for voting are “The Falls”, “City Park”, “Beaver Falls Central Park”, and “13th Street Park”. There is one name that wasn’t included on the list, “March Park”.  The park has historically been named “March Parklet”, dedicated to James H. March Sr., for his efforts and community service for Beaver Falls, according to a plaque that remains in place on the wall of the library. Some say that the March family donated the land for the park, although Beaver County Radio has not yet confirmed this. Hundreds of residents have taken to the post comment section to cast their write-in vote for “March Park”, with many saying they believe naming the park anything else would be rewriting history.
Photos and the Facebook posts can be found below:
The park:

Library Park sign in place at the park:
Beaver falls Community Facebook post:

FILE – An NYSE sign is seen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is rising after Meta Platforms became the latest Big Tech company to blow past profit expectations and reports painted a mixed picture of the economy. The S&P 500 was 1.1% higher Thursday. Facebook’s parent company was doing some of the heaviest lifting and jumped 14%. Expectations were broadly low coming into this earnings reporting season, in part because of a slowing economy. A report on Thursday suggested the economy slowed even more than expected. But it also showed strength underneath the surface, and Treasury yields rose on expectations the Federal Reserve will see it as resilient enough to hike interest rates next week.