WASHINGTON - The number of people killed in sport utility rollover crashes rose 14 percent last year as total highway deaths hit a 12-year high at nearly 43,000, the government reported Thursday.

The Transportation Department also reported that car crash injuries fell to an all-time low in 2002. Child and pedestrian deaths also went down as did fatalities involving large trucks.

But in 2002, SUV rollover fatalities jumped to more than 2,400 victims, an increase of 14 percent, the government said. Sixty-one percent of all SUV fatalities involved rollovers.

These grim statistics underscore the challenge facing regulators, who have redoubled efforts to reduce carnage on the nation's roads. Motorists traveled more than 2.8 trillion miles last year.

This summer, highway safety officials launched media and law enforcement initiatives to improve seat belt use and discourage drunk driving.

Alcohol-related fatalities remained unchanged at 41 percent of the total, or 17,419. And nearly 60 percent of the 42,815 people killed in auto crashes last year were not wearing seat belts.

The nation's top auto safety regulator, Jeffrey Runge, has launched a high-profile campaign to make popular sport utility vehicles safer.

For now, Runge is relying on an industry-government effort to reduce SUV rollover and other risks, but has not ruled out regulations to force changes.

There are 22 million SUVs on US roads, or about 10 percent of the total number of vehicles. And government figures show the rate of fatal rollovers for SUVs is almost three times that of cars.