German traffic fatalities in 2004 fell 12 percent to 5,844 deaths, the fewest since statistics were first kept in 1953, according to the Federal Statistics Office on Thursday. The number of traffic accidents reported to the police fell 0.2 percent to 2.25 million incidents and the number of traffic-related deaths per 1 million inhabitants was 71, the office said in a statement, without giving a 2003 figure. The main contributing factor to the drop in fatalities is believed to be due to vehicles being equipped with more safety equipment, such as air bags and electronic stability systems. The German state with the largest decline in traffic fatalities last year was Bremen, where the number fell 65 percent to seven deaths, while the largest increase at 4.5 percent was in Hamburg with 46 deaths.