The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has just released its estimates on traffic fatalities for the first quarter of 2021 and the numbers aren’t promising. In the first quarter of this year alone, 8,730 people died in motor vehicle crashes. Last year’s cumulative numbers weren’t much better, coming in higher than any year since 2007.
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The grim statistics represent a 10.5 percent increase from the same time period last year, a time when we were already marveling at the numbers. Further data reported by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) indicate that the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) decreased by 2.1 percent, which makes the increase in fatalities all the more striking a statistic. Initial projections pegged the number of fatalities per 100 million VMT at 1.12, but it instead climbed to 1.26 fatalities per 100 million VMT.
Regionally, most areas in the United Statessaw an increase, though two did not. The Midwest region, which includes Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas did not change, while the mid-east coast states of North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and West Virginia actually saw a six percent decline in fatality counts.
[rebelmouse-image 23551673 photo_credit=”Photo%20by%5Cu00a0Getty%20Images” caption=”Highway%201%20near%20Big%20Sur%20includes%20the%20Bixby%20Creek%20Bridge%2C%20a%20famous%20landmark.” dam=”1″ site_id=19918384 pin_description=”” alt=”Highway 1 big sur” expand=”1″]
Highway 1 near Big Sur includes the Bixby Creek Bridge, a famous landmark.
Photo by\u00a0Getty Images
What’s behind all of this? Last year, the NHTSA reported that, with fewer people on the roads, those that were driving were engaging in risky behavior. What’s more, Automotive News reports, that the number of deaths involving people not wearing seatbelts increased 15 percent last year and speeding deaths climbed 10 percent.
