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By: Journal Record Staff May 25, 2022 0

Increases in traffic fatalities across the country in 2021 have been tied to factors such as increased speeds and more aggressive driving that may have been related to the pandemic. (Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash)

More people died on roads and highways across the country last year than in any year since 2005, according to recently released federal data.

Deaths of motorists and pedestrians related to vehicle crashes had generally been on the decline at least since the 1960s, driven down by vehicle safety improvements, improvements in road and highway design, and declines in drunken driving, among other factors. According to the data, deaths in 2019 reached levels not seen since the 1920s.

Last year’s surge was blamed in large part on the pandemic.

While transportation experts might have anticipated even further declines in fatal crashes, as slowdowns in the economy and in life in general led to fewer vehicles on roads, they were surprised by effects of factors such as more aggressive driving, more distracted driving, and increased highway speeds. They noted that crashes continued to increase as pandemic fears began to subside and people returned to travel.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a division of the Department of Transportation, some 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021, a 10.5% increase from the 38,824 who died in 2020. The deaths included pedestrians, cyclists and others who may have died during a crash.

Fatalities from multivehicle crashes and those on urban roadways both rose 16%, according to the agency, the largest year-over-year increases for incident-specific data. Other notable increases included: fatalities of those 65 years or older, up 14%; pedestrian deaths, up 13%; and fatalities in crashes involving at least one large truck, up 13%.

The NHTSA said traffic deaths rose in 2021 in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

In Oklahoma, 218 total fatalities had been reported by the latter part of May in 2021. So far this year, the number has declined to 181, according to the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced recently that it will put together a strategy to combat rising road deaths, which have increased most in the southern and western United States.

“We’ve got to do more of what works. Traffic enforcement has got to be part of the solution,” said Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association. “But we’ve got to look at how we build roads. We’ve got to look at the whole system.”

Tagged with: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation

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