NHTSA Reports Decrease in Traffic Deaths: What’s Behind the Numbers?

Highway fatalities have fallen 3.2% in the first half of the year from the same period in 2023, data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows.

NHTSA’s early estimates of traffic fatalities for the first half of 2024 shows fatalities declined for the ninth straight quarter. An estimated 18,720 people died in traffic crashes, down 3.2% from the first half of 2023. Fatalities declined in both the first and second quarters of 2024.These declines come as drivers put in more miles on the road.

Federal Highway Administration data released in June shows that in the first half of 2024, vehicle miles traveled climbed by 13.1 billion, up 0.8% from the previous year. Despite that, the rate of traffic fatalities fell to 1.17 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled from 1.21 per 100 million last year during the same period.

NHTSA expects the final figures will show a decline in mortality in at least 31 states and Puerto Rico, with a significant improvement in roughly eighteen states and the District of Columbia.

Since 2021, NHTSA finalized a number of safety initiatives aimed at reducing traffic deaths, such as a new requirement for passenger cars and light trucks to come equipped with automatic emergency braking systems by 2029.