Traffic deaths in Pennsylvania reached an all-time low last year, continuing a favorable trend, say analysts.

According to PennDOT, 1,195 people lost their lives in crashes in 2014, the lowest since record-keeping began in 1928.PennDOT and other safety advocates are working toward a nationwide goal of zero fatalities, according to a representative."PennDOT continuously strives to drive down crash and fatality numbers, and we ultimately want to reach zero deaths on our roads," said Leslie S. Richards, PennDOT secretary."Keeping in mind that each crash or death involves a member of someone's family, we urge the motoring public to be aware of their driving behavior by observing traffic laws, paying attention and using caution."The state agency also furnished numbers that indicated a decrease in the number of unbuckled, drinking-driver-related and hit-tree crashes last year when compared with 2013 crashes.Unbuckled fatalities dropped from 425 to 383. Deaths in drinking-driver-related crashes declined to 342 from 294.Fatalities in hit-tree crashes declined from 254 to 221.Tamaqua Police Chief Rick Weaver commented that national figures show a statistic hard to ignore."In 2013, of the 32,719 who were killed in motor vehicle crashes nationwide, 52 percent were not wearing seat belts at the time of their fatal crashes."The analysis was announced Tuesday at a news conference pertaining to highway safety initiatives, distracted and drunken driving and seat belt use.The public can now search for finalized crash and traffic fatality data using PennDOT's new Pennsylvania Crash Information Tool, accessible at

dotcrashinfo.pa.gov.PennDOT says the new tool is part of Gov. Tom Wolf's "Government that Works" agenda.