Newly released figures show U.S. traffic fatalities in the first half of 2013 are down from the same time a year ago.

An estimated 15,470 people died, a decrease of about 4.2% when compared to the 16,150 fatalities that were projected to have occurred in the first half of 2012, according to the U.S. Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

It reports the percentage change in fatalities has been steadily decreasing since the significant 12.3% increase projected for the first quarter of 2012.

Preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration shows that vehicle miles traveled in the first six months of 2013 decreased by about 1.4 billion or about a 0.1% decrease.

The fatality rate for the first six months of 2013 decreased to 1.06 fatalities per 100 million VMT, down from 1.10 fatalities per 100 million VMT in the first half of 2012. The fatality rate for the second quarter of 2013 decreased to 1.08 fatalities per 100 million VMT, down from 1.12 fatalities in the sec­ond quarter of 2012.

A more detailed summary is available on the NHTSA website.

This report follows one released earlier this week by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration showing an increase in the number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes over the past year.