That whooshing sound you hear is traffic whizzing by, from one place to another, with record low fatalities.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that the death rate of 1.16 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2009 was the smallest since records were compiled beginning in 1954. In Pennsylvania, the number of road fatalities plunged by 14 percent, leaving the lowest total -- 1,256 -- since the state began keeping its own tally in 1928.

Safety officials attribute the declining total of highway deaths to safer roads, better vehicle design, increased seat belt use and tougher action on drunken and distracted driving.

This doesn't mean the carnage is over, however. To put things in perspective, the United States last year lost 149 troops in Iraq and 316 in Afghanistan. Back home, 33,963, albeit a record low, died on the road.

Now is not the time to ease up on the modern scourges of the highway. In January the state House of Representatives voted to ban the use of hand-held cell phones and prohibit sending text messages while driving. The bill is under consideration in the Senate.

Other states have taken action on the driving distractions of texting and cell phones. It's time for Pennsylvania to follow suit, to keep travelers from becoming statistics.

Cartoonist Rob Rogers does "Rob's Rough," an early look at his work and his creative process, exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.