Traffic Fatalities Fall 3.2% in First Half of ’24, NHTSA Says
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Early estimates of overall traffic fatalities for the first half of 2024 declined by roughly 3.2% compared with the first half of 2023, according to a new report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The new NHTSA report showed that in the first half of 2024, an estimated 18,720 motorists died in crashes, compared to 19,330 estimated fatalities during the first six months of 2023. The report also said traffic fatalities have declined for the ninth straight quarter.
The report did not break down the portion of large truck fatalities within the overall numbers.
“Continuing the trend identified in the first-quarter estimates released in June, preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration show that vehicle miles traveled in the first half of 2024 increased by about 13.1 billion miles, or roughly 0.8% higher than the same time period last year,” NHTSA said. “More miles driven combined with fewer traffic deaths resulted in a fatality rate of 1.17 fatalities per 100 million VMT, down from the projected rate of 1.21 fatalities per 100 million VMT in the first half of 2023.”
ICYMI: We released early estimates of traffic fatalities for the first half of 2024 — a decline of 3 percent compared to the same period in 2023 and the ninth straight quarter of declines.
More: https://t.co/Qe11n8h3Bc pic.twitter.com/3cpTF9iiHH — nhtsagov (@NHTSAgov) September 6, 2024
“Reversing the rise in roadway deaths has been a top priority for this department, so we’re encouraged to see continued reductions in traffic fatalities — yet the overall proportions of this issue remain at crisis levels and there is much more work to do,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Safety is at the core of our mission, and we are using funds from the Biden-Harris infrastructure package to deliver lifesaving resources to communities across the country so that roads become safer for everyone.”
Trottenberg
“We are heartened by this decline in fatalities and are continuing to work hard to get to zero fatalities through our National Roadway Safety Strategy,” Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg said. “This initiative addresses every aspect of this crisis — ensuring that our work results in safer vehicles, safer speeds, safer roads and safer people while also addressing saving lives after crashes.”
Since January 2021, NHTSA finalized a significant number of safety initiatives aimed at reducing traffic deaths, such as a new requirement for passenger cars and light trucks to come equipped with automatic emergency braking systems by 2029. In coordination with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, officials said the agency continues to work toward finalizing a similar requirement for heavy vehicles. The initiatives support the department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, a comprehensive approach to significantly reducing serious injuries and deaths on the nation’s highways, roads and streets.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were marked increases in fatalities and the fatality rate per 100 million VMT in 2020. The increased trend of fatalities in 2020 continued into 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.
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However, the second, third and fourth quarters of 2022, all four quarters of 2023, plus the first two quarters of 2024 have seen fatalities decline for nine consecutive quarters, after seven consecutive quarters of year-to-year increases in fatalities, since the third quarter of 2020.
The agency said the fatality counts for 2023 and 2024 and the ensuing percentage changes from 2023 to 2024 will be further revised when the Fatality Analysis Reporting System Annual Reporting File for 2023 is available later this year, as well as when the Final File for 2023 and the Annual Reporting File for 2024 are available next year.
