In August 10, 2004, U. S. Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta announced the results of the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Annual Assessment for 2003. The secretary announced that the 2003 results reflect the first absolute decline in highway fatalities since 1998 (42,643 from 43,005 in 2002) and achieve what is estimated to be the lowest fatality rate ever recorded (1.48 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles of travel, down from 1.51 in 2002).