TORONTO, Ont. — The most recent road safety statistics indicate Ontario has the safest highways in North America.

Ontario recorded a fatality rate of 0.70 per 10,000 licensed drivers in 2008, reaching its lowest level since 1945 and the lowest in all North America.

The province says its roads have ranked first or second in North America for 10 years in a row.

“Our numbers show that Ontario is on the right track, and our efforts are making a difference. Lives are being saved,” said Transport Minister Kathleen Wynne. “We will remain vigilant in looking for new and better ways to improve road safety, and we will continue to benefit from the excellent relationships we have with all of our road safety partners.”

She credits Ontario’s distracted driving legislation and tough impaired driving rules for making the province’s roads safer.

The province saw drinking and driving-related fatalities decline 29%, speed-related fatalities drop 17% and fatalities involving large trucks drop 24% in 2008.

There were 130 people killed in accidents involving large trucks on Ontario roads in 2008, down from 170 in 2007. Of the 130 fatal accidents, the truck driver was “not driving properly” in 47 (or 36.2%) of them. A vehicle defect was detected in just 2% of trucks involved in fatal accidents.

Of 135 large trucks involved in fatal collisions in 2008, 52 were straight trucks and 41 were tractor-trailer units. Twenty-nine involved only a tractor while only two involved tractors pulling A-, B- or C-trains.

In 2008, there were 184,961 tractor-trailer combinations registered in Ontario.