On a state level, fatalities increased in 38 states during the period, remained flat in two and declined in 10 states as well as the District of Columba. (Credit: Motortion Films/Shutterstock)
During the first nine months of 2021, U.S. traffic fatalities increased approximately 12% compared with the year prior, according to an early estimate from the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The estimate is the highest number of traffic fatalities during the first nine months of any year since 2006 and the highest percentage increase in the first nine months of a year in the history of the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the NHTSA reported.
On a state level, fatalities increased in 38 states during the period, remained flat in two and declined in 10 states as well as the District of Columba.
"We have to change a culture that accepts as inevitable the loss of tens of thousands of people in traffic crashes," Dr. Steven Cliff, NHTSA's deputy administrator, said in a release. "This will require a transformational and collaborative approach to safety on our nation's roads."
During 2020, traffic fatalities increased 7.2% compared with 2019, according to NHTSA data, which showed deaths increased more than 13% during 2020's third and fourth quarters.
Strategy for safer roads
Aiming to stymie this trend, the Department of Transportation developed the National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), which the Governors Highway Safety Association said was vital to improving roadway safety nationwide.
"This is a national crisis. We cannot and must not accept these deaths as an inevitable part of everyday life," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a release. "The good news is we now have a strategy, as well as the resources and programs to deliver it, thanks to the president's bipartisan infrastructure law. The National Roadway Safety Strategy is America's first-ever national, comprehensive plan to significantly reduce deaths and injuries on our roads."
The NRSS will work to reduce traffic fatalities by:
- Working with state and local road owners to build and maintain safer roadways through efforts such as speed limit setting and updating the manual on uniform traffic control devices.
- Promote the use of technology to improve driving safety, including rulemaking on automatic emergency braking and pedestrian automatic emergency braking as well as updates to the New Car Assessment Program.
- Investing in roadway safety through funds from the infrastructure bill. This includes a new $6 billion Safe Street and Roads For All program, supporting behavioral research and intervention and an additional $4 million in funding for the Highway Safety Improvement Program.
The NHTSA noted deaths caused by traffic crashes disproportionately affect people living in rural areas, communities of color, people with disabilities and older adults. Further, traffic deaths among people walking or biking are increasing faster than for those who drive.
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