An estimated 31,720 people died in traffic crashes in the first nine months of 2021, an increase of 12% from the same period in 202, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated Tuesday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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Feb. 1 (UPI) -- More than 31,000 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the first nine months of 2021, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated Tuesday.
In its early estimate of traffic fatalities for the first three quarters of the year, the NHTSA projected that an estimated 31,720 people died in traffic crashes, a 12% increase from the 28,325 deaths during the same period in 2020.
It also marked the highest total during the first nine months of any year since 2006 and the highest percentage increase in a single year on record.
"This is a national crisis. We cannot and must not accept these deaths as an inevitable part of everyday life," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. "The good news is now we have a strategy, as well as the resources and programs to deliver it, thanks to the president's Bipartisan Infrastructure law."
Fatalities also were projected to increase in 38 states, remain flat in two states and decrease in 10 states and Washington, D.C., according to the estimates.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, vehicle miles traveled in the first nine months increased by about 244 billion miles, or 11.7%, from 2020, while the fatality rate rose to 1.36 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled from 1.35 fatalities during the same time frame in 2020.
"We have to change a culture that accepts as inevitable the loss of tens of thousands of people in traffic crashes," Steven Cliff, NHTSA's deputy administrator, said. "This will require a transformational and collaborative approach to safety on our nation's roads."
In the first quarter of 2021, the NHTSA reported that trends showed that drivers were acting more recklessly despite a decrease in driving beginning in 2020 as "drivers who remained on the road engaged in more risky behavior, including speeding, failing to wear seat belts and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol."