In 2009, motorcycle fatalities in the US declined for the first time in 11 years but remained above 4000; that year's total dropped from 5,312 to 4,469 (between 2008 and 2009). Automobile fatalities continued to decline for the seventh straight year before 2011. A decline in recreational motorcycling due to the late-2000s recession might account for the decrease in accidents, according to the authors of a report by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), but a state motorcyclists' rights organization, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, said motorcycle use appeared to have increased, influenced by motorcycles' better fuel economy. A preliminary report by the GHSA estimated that the number of motorcyclist deaths in 2012 was more than 5,000, a 9% increase over 2011.