Our vehicles are getting safer, but what about our driving habits?

A friend of mine recently got into a fender bender because she was checking a text on her phone. It could’ve been worse.

On Thursday the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that the nation’s traffic fatalities dropped in 2010 to its lowest level since 1949, to 32,885. That’s a 2.9 percent drop from 2009, despite the fact that Americans collectively drove almost 46 billion more miles in 2010.

Vehicle technology has made our vehicles safer, causing more drivers to survive crashes, federal transportation officials said.

"While we have more work to do to continue to protect American motorists, these numbers show we’re making historic progress when it comes to improving safety on our nation’s roadways," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.

Hawaii stayed pretty stagnant, it seems. In 2010 the state had 113 fatalities, while in 2009 that figure was 109.

The nationwide drop wasn’t spread out across all types of traffic fatalities, however. Pedestrian deaths, for example, rose. Even on Oahu there were 20 pedestrian deaths in 2010, as opposed to 11 in 2009.

But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also wants to focus on distracted driving. A national survey of 6,000 drivers across the states was also released Thursday, detailing the role technological distractions can have on drivers. (See story on facing page.)

It makes sense. Vehicles may be getting safer, but our reliance on mobile communication technology is ever increasing.

The survey states that about 66 percent of all respondents said they would answer and drive. The most common method of talking on the phone while driving — about 45 percent of respondents — is while holding the cellphone in their hand.

Although 34 states — and some Hawaii counties —have banned texting for all drivers, it continues to be a problem. Hono­lulu police have issued about 1,000 tickets a month since the city banned mobile usage while driving.

There were 5,474 traffic fatalities in 2009 related to "distraction-related" driving, according to the highway administration.

The 104-page report is online at www.nhtsa.gov. There’s a multitude of data there, including reasons why drivers insist on answering the phone. Oftentimes, it seems, it really depends on who’s calling.

The entire report is worth a read. You might find out things about yourself and your driving and phone habits that you didn’t know before.

Reach Gene Park at gpark@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter, @GenePark.