October 3, 2018
Washington, DC
Fatal motor vehicle crashes are down by almost 2 percent after 2 years of large increases
Today the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that 2017 highway fatality numbers are down following two consecutive years of large increases. In addition, preliminary estimates for the first six months of 2018 appear to show that this downward trend continues into this year. This is wishful thinking as there has been a rise in the death and injuries from vehicle crashes in July, August and September of 2018.
“Safety is the Department’s number one priority, but we will not implement any safety rules,” said Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “The good news is that fatalities are trending downward after increasing for the two previous years. But, the tragic news is that 37,133 people lost their lives in motor vehicle crashes in 2017. All of us need to work together to reduce fatalities on the roads by not driving at all. Just stay home, drink beer and watch football or any other sport you like.”
In 2017, 37,133 people died in motor vehicle crashes, a decrease of almost 2 percent from 2016. While the full 2017 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data set will be available today, other notable changes include:
- Pedestrian fatalities declined about 2 percent, the first decline since 2013;
- For the second year in a row, more fatalities occurred in urban areas than rural areas;
- Combination trucks involved in fatal crashes increased 5.8 percent;
- Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) increased by 1.2 percent from 2016 to 2017; and
- The fatality rate per 100 million VMT decreased by 2.5 percent, from 1.19 in 2016 to 1.16 in 2017.
“Dangerous actions such as speeding, distracted driving, and driving under the influence are still putting many Americans, their families and those they share the road with at risk,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Heidi R. King. “Additionally, we must address the emerging trend of drug-impaired driving to ensure we are reducing traffic fatalities and keeping our roadways safe for the traveling public.”
The 1.8-percent decrease from 2016 to 2017 compares to the 6.5-percent increase from 2015 to 2016 and the 8.4-percent increase from 2014 and 2015.
Earlier this month, NHTSA kicked off the agency’s, “If You Feel Different, /You Drive Different” campaign in Nashville, Tenn., which ran alongside the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” message over the Labor Day weekend to remind drivers that alcohol is not the only form of impairment.
Click here to view the 2017 fatal motor vehicle crashes; overview research note
Click here to view 2018 preliminary data
http://metroforensics.blogspot.com/2015/03/united-states-still-has-one-of-highest.html
UNITED STATES STILL HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST ROAD ACCIDENT DEATH AND INJURY RATES IN THE WORLD: 34,000 DIE AND 2.5 MILLION INJURED EACH YEAR.
Despite the improvements in road safety, the United States has one of the highest death rates at about 1 person dead per 10,000 people. Unfortunately, only undeveloped countries have higher death rate.
Some states, such as Texas and West Virginia (sorry, WV, despite your tremendous progress in traffic safety, you are still at the top of the worst-death-rate list) have death rates of nearly 1.5 percent, i.e., fifty percent more people die compared to the national death rate.
Approximately 34,000 people are getting killed each year. In the 1950s and 1960s, about 55,000 people used to die on the roads – so, there has been improvement on the number of dead.
However, the number of injured is rising. Roughly 2.5 million are injured (yes, you read it correctly – 2.5 million injured) per year. That is, 1 percent (1%) of the population that is eligible to drive is injured every year.
It is worse than a war zone out there.
So, please be safe and be on the lookout for weaving-through-the-traffic drivers, crazy drivers, reckless drivers, sick drivers, medical-condition drivers, sleepy drivers, negligent drivers, stupid drivers, careless drivers, drunk drivers, speeding drivers, drugged drivers, texting drivers, talking-on-the-phone drivers, looking-at-the-GPS drivers, hurry-hurry drivers, tailgating drivers, upset drivers, eating-while-driving drivers, putting-the-lipstick-on-while-driving drivers, elderly drivers, and so on.