Today The Royal Gazette reports on what passes for good news these days last year the number of road deaths fell to their lowest level since 2004. Nine deaths are still nine deaths too many, and it gives no relief to the families of the victims to know that more people died in previous years.It is also too early to say whether this is the beginning of a trend or simply an anomaly. But nine deaths is substantially lower than the 13 recorded in both 2010 and 2009 and almost half the 17 seen in 2008, which was itself the highest since crash helmets were mandated for motorbikes in the 1970s.It is not entirely clear what has caused the reduction. The number of deaths and injuries to car drivers and passengers has been substantially reduced since seat belts were required to be worn, but that did nothing to stop the deaths and serious injuries to motorbike riders. Similarly, the recent ban on the use of cell phones by drivers and riders (still a bizarre sight) may well reduce the number of collisions in the coming year, but would have had virtually no effect in 2011.Officials from the Road Safety Council and the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse believe part of the reason for the drop in deaths and collisions is that their public awareness campaigns are getting through.And it may be that a greater police presence on the roads, albeit mainly in response to gang violence, is having an effect as well. The graduated licence scheme for young orders should also be helping as new riders tend to be very prone to collisions. Nonetheless, the fall remains something of a mystery.Anecdotally, the roads do not seem any safer. Lunatic behaviours by bike riders does not seem to have decreased. And the unofficial speed limit remains at about 50kph, which is risky on narrow roads.There are other possible reasons for the decline in deaths and collisions. One is that with the downturn in tourism, fewer visitors are renting livery cycles, thus reducing potential accident levels. Those visitors who are coming to the Island also seem to be less ready to rent bikes than they used to be, not least because of the recklessness they see on the roads.More broadly, commuters will have noticed a drop in congestion in the last 18 months or so as the recession has taken its toll and people have left the Island. High congestion was blamed for the increase in the collision rate, and it’s likely that the drop in traffic means that collisions, especially in heavily trafficked areas, has also dropped.Still, two or three years of declines do not mean the problem has been permanently reversed. And there can be no doubt that nine deaths are still far too many. It is quite conceivable that Bermuda can reach the point where it records no road deaths.Simply by driving at reasonable speeds, exercising care and attention, obeying the traffic code, ensuring helmets are safe and properly fastened and not drinking and driving and being sensible, most accidents and all road deaths can be avoided.That goal requires continued public awareness campaigns, enforcement of the traffic laws and peer pressure. But it can be done, and it must be done to ensure that more families do not experience the needless grief that a road death brings.