Approximately 46,000 people died on U.S. roads last year, according to preliminary data from the National Safety Council.
That number is up 9% from 42,339 deaths recorded in 2020, and up 18% from 39,107 deaths in 2019, according to the nonprofit health and safety organization.
“This devastating news serves as yet another wakeup call for this country. We are failing each other, and we must act to prioritize safety for all road users,” Lorraine Martin, president and CEO of the National Safety Council, said in a press release. “One life lost in a preventable crash is tragic enough and more than 46,000 in one year is unacceptable.”
The report comes as traffic on roads nears pre-pandemic levels. According to the Federal Highway Administration, vehicle miles traveled in the first nine months of 2021 increased 11.7% from the same time in 2020.
In California, fatal crashes are up roughly 17% jumping from 2,770 deaths in 2020 to 3,246 in 2021. One is due to the pandemic as fewer vehicles were on the roads for large portions of 2020. Substance abuse has increased as well during the pandemic, leading to more DUI crashes.
“Fatal collisions are 100% preventable”. There’s no reason that anyone should die in their vehicle and the reason people crash is because they are doing something they are not supposed to be doing behind the wheel.
“What we do know, at least preliminarily NHTSA studies at the beginning of the pandemic, is that people are speeding, driving aggressive, not wearing their seatbelt, driving distracted and impaired driving as well,” NHTSA said.
In January, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg released a plan, the National Roadway Safety Strategy, to reduce road deaths across the country. The plan calls for nationwide design changes to roads, automatic emergency braking in passenger vehicles, among dozens of other initiatives — including a goal to reach zero deaths on American roadways by 2050.
“This is a national crisis,” Buttigieg said at the time. “We cannot and must not accept these deaths as an inevitable part of everyday life.”
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