Despite a drop in road traffic volumes during the first nine months of 2020, crashes and road deaths increased in the US – image © courtesy of Tom Schwimmbeck
Road safety in the US is a major cause for concern, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Despite the lockdown caused by the global pandemic, the US saw an increase in road deaths in 2020 according to the NHTSA’s data.
The estimated traffic fatalities suggest that 28,190 people were killed in road crashes in the first nine months of 2020. This is equivalent to an increase of 4.6% compared to the 26,941 road deaths in the first nine months of 2019.
Meanwhile, preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) shows that the total distance travelled in the first nine months of 2020 decreased by about 14.5%, or 568.8 billion km. This highlights the issue that as traffic volumes and total distance driven decreased, crashes and fatalities increased, providing serious cause for concern.
