Slow down, you move too fast.

• Position: TRAFFIC SAFETY - Speed limits could lower traffic deaths - Brief article

The latest traffic safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show there were 673 fewer traffic deaths in the U.S. in 2017 than there were the year before.

That's good news. Still, despite a slight decline in 2017, deaths of pedestrians, bicyclists and others not in cars make up 19 percent of all U.S. traffic fatalities, according to the traffic safety administration, compared with 14 percent in 2008.

With studies showing that reducing motor-vehicle speed can make the difference between life and death for vulnerable road users, at least seven states--Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon and Washington--have given local governments more flexibility in setting...