'(We) are making progress, but far too many of our friends, neighbors and family members are still getting killed or seriously injured,' U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in a statement. '...We're not stopping here; the quest is not over until that bottom line number is zero.'

Christopher J. Murphy, chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association, said the decline was good, but 'far too many people continue to lose their lives in preventable traffic crashes.'

The number of motorcycle fatalities, which account for 13 percent of all deaths, increased 6.6 percent from 2006 to 2007, to 5,154. That's up 150 percent since 1997, when 2,116 people died in motorcycle crashes.

'Motorcycle fatalities have increased for the 10th straight year and show no sign of easing,' Murphy said.

Pedestrian deaths declined in 2007 by 2.9 percent to 4,654, but they still account for 11.3 percent of all traffic deaths. Injuries of pedestrians increased by 15 percent to 70,000 in 2007.

Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said the news wasn't a result of better enforcement or safer cars.

'It's not a surprise that deaths would have dropped last year as the economy began to sink and gas prices rose. Fewer highway deaths is the silver lining of a down economy,' he said. 'With a double-whammy of a slow economy and high gas prices, we would expect an even bigger effect on the 2008 numbers.'

Alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities fell 3.7 percent to 12,998, but Rader said tougher enforcement of alcohol and speeding laws was still needed.