DETROIT– U.S. traffic fatalities fell 3.6% last year, yet nearly 41,000 people still died on U.S. roads, according to year-round safety officials’ estimates.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was the second year in a row that fatalities declined. The agency also released final figures for 2022 on Monday, saying 42,514 people died in accidents.
NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said traffic fatalities declined in the fourth quarter of last year, marking the seventh consecutive quarterly decline beginning with the second quarter of 2022.
The declines come even as people drive more. Federal Highway Administration estimates show that Americans drove 67.5 billion more miles last year than the year before, an increase of 2.1%. The death rate per 100 million miles driven fell last year to 1.26 from 1.33 in 2022, NHTSA said.
Authorities have said that even with a decline, the number of deaths is still too high. Shulman blamed the problem partly on distracted driving. In 2022, an estimated 3,308 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers, while 289,310 people were injured.
Nearly 20% of people killed in distracted driving crashes were people outside vehicles, including pedestrians, cyclists and others, she said.
“Distracted driving is extremely dangerous,” she said, launching a new brand campaign against it called “Put the Phone Down or Pay Up.” The agency will launch an advertising campaign this month and law enforcement will crack down on the behavior in a campaign from April 4 to 8.
Traffic fatalities rose 10.5% in 2021 over 2020 as people increased their driving as the COVID-19 pandemic began to subside. That was the highest number since 2005 and the largest percentage increase since 1975.
At the time, authorities blamed speeding and reckless behavior, as well as distracted driving.
Part of the increase in fatalities then was due to people driving more as the coronavirus pandemic subsided. NHTSA reported that the death rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled increased 2.2% to 1.37 in 2021.