Highway fatalities in the United States rose by 7.2 percent last year, bringing the total number of deaths to more than 35,000, NBC New York reported, citing data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday.
This puts 2015 ahead with the highest one-year increase since 1966 when fatalities rose by 8.1 percent.
Job growth, cheaper gas
NHTSA attributed the rise in highway deaths to increased driving because of job growth and cheaper gasolines prices, in addition to increased driving by young people.
The agency said that while increased driving was seen as a major cause, other factors are to be considered.
Nearly 50 percent of those killed weren't wearing their seat belts. Drunk driving, speeding and distraction from mobile devices also contributed to the alarming increase with almost one in three fatalities involving drunk drivers or speeding and one in 10 fatalities involving distraction, reports revealed.
"The data tell us that people die when they drive drunk, distracted, or drowsy, or if they are speeding or unbuckled," said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. "While there have been enormous improvements in many of these areas, we need to find new solutions to end traffic fatalities."
Pedestrian and cyclist deaths
According to the NHTSA, the number of pedestrians and bicyclists who died in roadway accidents increased in 2015 more than any other year over the past 20 years. Accidents that took the lives of motorcyclists rose by 8 percent in 2015. The report also showed that vehicle miles traveled in 2015 was 3.5 percent higher than 2014, the highest one-year increase in 25 years.
An NBC report said that 10 years ago, the number of traffic deaths was nearly 25 percent higher, with 42,708 fatalities reported nationwide in 2005. Since then, federal officials have said that safety programs leading to the increase in seat belt use and reduction in impaired driving have helped lower the number of deaths. Additionally, vehicle improvements, including air bags and electronic stability control, have also contributed to reducing traffic fatalities. Traffic deaths in 2015 rose by nearly one-third compared with 2014, ending a decade-long downward trend.
Call to action
In response to the increase in traffic deaths, DOT, NHTSA, and the White House are issuing a call to action to involve researchers, safety experts and data scientists in helping to determine the causes of the increase.
"Despite decades of safety improvements, far too many people are killed on our nation's roads every year," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "Solving this problem will take teamwork, so we're issuing a call to action and asking researchers, safety experts, data scientists, and the public to analyze the fatality data and help find ways to prevent these tragedies."
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