DETROIT (AP) — U.S. traffic deaths dropped by 3.6% last year, but almost 41,000 people were still killed on the nation’s roads, as estimated by safety regulators for the entire year.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that fatalities decreased for the second consecutive year. The agency also revealed the final figures for 2022 on Monday, reporting that 42,514 people died in crashes.
Sophie Shulman, Deputy Administrator of NHTSA, mentioned that the number of traffic deaths decreased in the last quarter of 2023, making it the seventh consecutive quarterly decline since the second quarter of 2022.
Despite an increased amount of driving, the rate of deaths per 100 million miles driven decreased to 1.26 last year. This is a drop from 1.33 in 2022, as reported by NHTSA, despite Americans driving 67.5 billion more miles in the past year, a 2.1% increase.
Authorities have stated that even though there was a decrease, the number of deaths is still unacceptably high. Shulman pointed to distracted driving as part of the problem. In 2022, an estimated 3,308 people were killed in crashes related to distracted drivers, while 289,310 were injured.
Shulman stated that almost 20% of individuals who died in crashes involving distracted driving were not in vehicles, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and others.
“Distracted driving is extremely perilous,” she announced as she launched a renewed campaign called “Put the Phone Away or Pay” to combat it. The agency will kick off an advertising campaign this month, and law enforcement officers will intensify efforts to curb this behavior from April 4 to 8.
In 2021, traffic deaths surged by 10.5% compared to 2020 as people started driving more with the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the highest number since 2005 and the biggest percentage increase since 1975.
At the time, officials attributed the increase to speeding, more reckless behavior, and distracted driving.
Part of the rise in crash deaths at that time was due to increased driving as the coronavirus pandemic subsided. NHTSA reported that the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled increased by 2.2% to 1.37 in 2021.
