US Traffic Deaths Soar!

November 2021

U.S. traffic deaths soared by 18.4% in the first six months of 2021 from the same period a year earlier, making it the most-deadly first half on American roads for 15 years according to the Transportation Department.

It was the largest six-month increase ever recorded in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System's history, which has been in use since 1975.

"This is a crisis," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. "We cannot and should not accept these fatalities as simply a part of everyday life in America."

The National Highway Traffic Safety (NHTSA) estimated 20,160 people died car crashes in the first six months of 2021 in the United States, up 3,140 over the same period in 2020.

NHTSA said in the second quarter of 2021 alone, traffic deaths rose by 23.1%, the highest quarterly increase ever. That was partly because driving a year earlier was down dramatically due to COVID-19 lockdowns.

NHTSA noted that vehicle miles travelled rose 13% in the first half of the year but still, the fatality rate was the highest on U.S. roads since 2006.

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