Traffic Deaths Actually Dropped in 2022

Photo: Michael Noble Jr. (AP)

In a bit of good-ish news, U.S. traffic deaths actually declined slightly in 2022. It reverses a two-year trend of increasing traffic deaths during the peak of the Covid pandemic. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 1.35 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2022. That’s down from 1.37 in 2021.

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Overall, NHTSA estimates that 42,795 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2022. That sounds like – and is – a lot of death, but it is actually lower than in 2021. That year, 42,939 people died in crashes, and it actually represented a 16-year high in traffic deaths. Last year represents a 0.3 percent drop. The 2022 number is even more of a surprise when you look at what NHTSA was projecting the on-road death toll would be in 2022. In May, we reported that one agency estimated there would be about 46,000 traffic deaths in 2022.

NHTSA also said that traffic deaths declined in the fourth quarter of 2022. It marks the third straight quarterly decline in fatalities after seven consecutive quarters of increases that started in the third quarter of 2020. Ah, mid-2020, when society really just started to collapse.

When you look at the data state by state, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. NHTSA says 27 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are projected to have a decrease in fatalities for 2023. Meanwhile, the other 23 states are projected to have increases.

Despite all of this seemingly good news, officials still warn that we are in a traffic death national crisis.

“We continue to face a national crisis of traffic deaths on our roadways, and everyone has a role to play in reversing the rise that we experienced in recent years,” Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Transportation Secretary, said in a statement. “Through our National Roadway Safety Strategy, we’re strengthening traffic safety across the country, and working toward a day when these preventable tragedies are a thing of the past.”