Photo: NHTSA
NHTSA projects that close to 32,000 people died in traffic crashes from January through September 2021, which represents a whopping 12% increase compared to the still high 28,000 figure in 2020. This is the highest increase rate in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System’s history, says the NHTSA.
Part of the road death increase is associated with the number of vehicle miles traveled in the first nine months of 2021. According to the Federal Highway Administration, this was higher by 11.7% compared with the same time of 2020. The results, which Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called a “national crisis,” suggest people continued with dangerous driving habits during the global health crisis.
Not all states are on the same page in this regard, as shown by NHTSA’s report that provided the first look at state-level traffic fatality estimates during the health crisis. The number of traffic fatalities increased in 38 states, led by those in the West and South such as Idaho, Nevada, and Texas. Statistics remained flat in two states and decreased in 10 states and the District of Columbia.
Traffic deaths began to spike in 2019, following a three-year streak of decrease in the number of fatalities. NHTSA reports blamed reckless driving for the increased number of road deaths during the health crisis. Behavioral research showed speeding and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol became common practice.
“People make mistakes, but human mistakes don’t always have to be lethal. In a well-designed system, safety measures make sure that human fallibility does not lead to human fatalities,” Buttigieg said in a statement. “That’s what we will be doing for America’s roads with the National Roadway Safety Strategy and the safe system approach that it embraces.”
NHTSA intends to move forward with plans to mandate automatic emergency braking in all new passenger vehicles. Although no firm deadlines have been set, other crash-avoiding systems such as lane-keeping assistance are also on the table for increasing vehicles’ safety performance.
Not all states are on the same page in this regard, as shown by NHTSA’s report that provided the first look at state-level traffic fatality estimates during the health crisis. The number of traffic fatalities increased in 38 states, led by those in the West and South such as Idaho, Nevada, and Texas. Statistics remained flat in two states and decreased in 10 states and the District of Columbia.
Traffic deaths began to spike in 2019, following a three-year streak of decrease in the number of fatalities. NHTSA reports blamed reckless driving for the increased number of road deaths during the health crisis. Behavioral research showed speeding and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol became common practice.
“People make mistakes, but human mistakes don’t always have to be lethal. In a well-designed system, safety measures make sure that human fallibility does not lead to human fatalities,” Buttigieg said in a statement. “That’s what we will be doing for America’s roads with the National Roadway Safety Strategy and the safe system approach that it embraces.”
NHTSA intends to move forward with plans to mandate automatic emergency braking in all new passenger vehicles. Although no firm deadlines have been set, other crash-avoiding systems such as lane-keeping assistance are also on the table for increasing vehicles’ safety performance.
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