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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government says the number of people dying on the nation's roads has reached its lowest level in six decades.

The Transportation Department says traffic deaths fell 9.7 percent in 2009 to 33,808, the lowest number since 1950. In 2008, an estimated 37,423 people died on the roadways.

Safety officials say deaths are down because more motorists are wearing seat belts, refraining from drunken driving and driving vehicles with better safety features.

The government says the rate of deaths per 100 million miles traveled also dropped to a record low. It fell to 1.13 deaths per 100 million miles in 2009, compared with 1.26 the year before.

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