DETROIT (AP) — U.S. traffic fatalities decreased by 3.6% last year, but nearly 41,000 people were still killed on the country’s roads, according to full-year estimates by safety regulators.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mentioned that the fatalities reduced for the second consecutive year. They also disclosed the final figures for 2022, stating that 42,514 individuals died in accidents.
NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman stated that traffic fatalities went down in the last quarter of last year, marking the seventh consecutive quarterly decrease since the second quarter of 2022.
Despite the increase in driving, the rate of deaths per 100 million miles driven dropped to 1.26 last year, down from 1.33 in 2022, as per NHTSA.
Authorities have emphasized that despite the decline, the number of deaths remains alarmingly high. Shulman attributed part of the problem to distracted driving, noting that an estimated 3,308 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2022, while 289,310 were injured.
She also mentioned that nearly 20% of individuals killed in crashes involving distracted driving were pedestrians, bicyclists, and others who were not in vehicles.
Shulman emphasized the extreme danger of distracted driving, launching a rebranded campaign against it called “Put the Phone Away or Pay.” The agency will launch an advertising campaign this month, and law enforcement will crackdown on this behavior from April 4 to 8.
There was a significant increase of 10.5% in traffic deaths in 2021 compared to 2020, when people started driving more as the COVID-19 pandemic began to ease. This was the highest number since 2005 and the largest percentage increase since 1975.
At that time, authorities attributed the increase to speeding, reckless behavior, and distracted driving.
Part of the rise in crash deaths then was due to people driving more as the coronavirus pandemic waned. NHTSA reported that the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled increased 2.2% to 1.37 in 2021.
