Photo: IIHS
The Highway Safety Act of 1970 led to the formation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal watchdog in charge of all things vehicle safety and other industry-related things such as regulations for theft resistance and fuel economy. Based in D.C., the agency has just published a report on motor vehicle traffic fatalities for the first nine months of 2022. It’s both good news and bad news, though.
The statistical projection of traffic fatalities for the months of January 2022 through September 2022 reveals that 31,785 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States of America. Compared to the 31,850 deaths recorded in the first nine months of 2021, this is a 0.2% decrease.
After no fewer than seven consecutive quarters of year-to-year increases in fatalities, the previous two saw marginal declines. According to preliminary data from the Federal Highway Administration, vehicle miles traveled in the first nine months of 2022 increased by a whopping 39 billion miles (1.6 percent) over the first three quarters of the year prior.
“Fatalities have not increased for two quarters now, but we have far more work to do to save lives and address the crisis on our nation’s roadways,” declared Ann Carlson, the acting administrator of the federal agency. “We urge everyone to do their part by driving safely and watching out for others on the road, especially vulnerable road users,” added Carlson.
That’s not exactly surprising because COVID-19 lockdowns are a thing of the past in this part of the world. With more people getting out of their homes more often, driving more miles than before is a given. But on the other hand, more miles and fewer fatalities are pretty surprising indeed.
Based on estimates, the fatality rate for the first nine months of 2022 decreased to 1.30 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, a 0.2% decrease from the 1.32 fatalities recorded during the same time in 2021.
5 of the 10 regions analyzed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are estimated to have increases in fatalities. In other words, 25 states are projected to have experienced increases in fatalities as per the report attached below. Said estimates will be refined sometime in April 2023, right after the FARS reports for 2021 are expected to be released.
To whom it may concern, FARS is a census of fatal traffic crashes in 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. To be included in the FARS reports for 2021, a crash must result in the death of at least one person – occupant or pedestrian – within 30 days of the crash. The data used in this analysis also includes Early Notification data (not publicly available), Monthly Fatality Counts data (not publicly available), and VMT (vehicle miles traveled) data from the FHWA.
After no fewer than seven consecutive quarters of year-to-year increases in fatalities, the previous two saw marginal declines. According to preliminary data from the Federal Highway Administration, vehicle miles traveled in the first nine months of 2022 increased by a whopping 39 billion miles (1.6 percent) over the first three quarters of the year prior.
“Fatalities have not increased for two quarters now, but we have far more work to do to save lives and address the crisis on our nation’s roadways,” declared Ann Carlson, the acting administrator of the federal agency. “We urge everyone to do their part by driving safely and watching out for others on the road, especially vulnerable road users,” added Carlson.
That’s not exactly surprising because COVID-19 lockdowns are a thing of the past in this part of the world. With more people getting out of their homes more often, driving more miles than before is a given. But on the other hand, more miles and fewer fatalities are pretty surprising indeed.
Based on estimates, the fatality rate for the first nine months of 2022 decreased to 1.30 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, a 0.2% decrease from the 1.32 fatalities recorded during the same time in 2021.
5 of the 10 regions analyzed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are estimated to have increases in fatalities. In other words, 25 states are projected to have experienced increases in fatalities as per the report attached below. Said estimates will be refined sometime in April 2023, right after the FARS reports for 2021 are expected to be released.
To whom it may concern, FARS is a census of fatal traffic crashes in 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. To be included in the FARS reports for 2021, a crash must result in the death of at least one person – occupant or pedestrian – within 30 days of the crash. The data used in this analysis also includes Early Notification data (not publicly available), Monthly Fatality Counts data (not publicly available), and VMT (vehicle miles traveled) data from the FHWA.
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