Traffic Fatalities On The Rise In 2021 In The United States
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Traffic fatalities in the U.S. rose significantly last year, increasing an estimated 12 percent in the first nine months of 2021 as compared to the first nine months of 2020.
According to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it’s estimated that 31,720 traffic fatalities occurred between January and September of 2021, an increase of 12 percent when compared to the estimated 28,325 traffic fatalities that occurred during the same time period through 2020.
The NHTSA’s estimate of 31,720 traffic fatalities through the first nine months of 2021 represents the highest number recorded in the first nine months of the year since 2006, as well as the highest percentage increase during that time period ever recorded by the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
The report also provided some interesting granularity, breaking down the traffic fatality figures state-by-state. According to the NHTSA, fatalities increased in 38 states, remained static in two states, and decreased in 10 states and the District of Columbia, as compared to the first nine months of 2020.
Notably, the rise in traffic fatalities coincides with an overall increase in miles traveled, with Americans covering an additional 244 billion miles in the first nine months of 2021, an increase of 11.7 percent as compared to the same time period in 2020. The fatality rate increased to 1.36 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, as compared to a rate of 1.35 deaths during the first nine months of 2020.
“This is a national crisis. We cannot and must not accept these deaths as an inevitable part of everyday life,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The good news is we now have a strategy, as well as the resources and programs to deliver it, thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The National Roadway Safety Strategy is America’s first-ever national, comprehensive plan to significantly reduce deaths and injuries on our roads.”
As part of GM’s efforts to move towards zero fatalities, zero injuries, and zero accidents, General Motors is developing new autonomous vehicle technology that promises enhanced safety, while also offering new safety technologies for use with human pilots, such as automatic braking and lane keep assist.
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it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure this out ! there are some good drivers out there ! the rest are idiots !
Here is what I have always said ” Bad drivers need Good drivers to drive ” . Meaning it takes a lot of good drivers to Pay attention of the actions of Bad drivers.
I would suggest to GM and other vehicle mfgrs that part of the problem is DISTRACTED DRIVERS.
Infotainment Centers and communication devices should be banned.
I recently traded in an old school 2006 Suburban for a much newer Suburban. So much to distract the driver now.
Why do I need a real-time moving fuel mileage graph?
All a driver needs is a speedo, and 4 analog gauges; fuel, oil pressure, coolant temp and battery.
For decades that is what we had, all we had and it was all we needed.
I’ll venture to say if we graph accidents rates and the use of more and more technology [Infotainment Centers and communication devices] on a yrly basis over, say, the last 10 yrs we’ll see a direct correlation of accident rates and the use of technology.
Besides, all this technology is that much more to fail, go bad, and break, leading to very expensive repairs.
100%
The rise in driving issues stems from 3 main factors.
1) more people on the roads
2) impotent enforcement of driving laws re things like DUI and recklessness
2) the rise of mobile technology like cell phones, infotainment, etc.
I bet if all phones were required to only operate in Bluetooth hands-free mode if their internal GPS said they were going under 5 mph, we would see a dramatic reduction in crashes and fatalities. But big tech would hate that so they won’t do that.
I must admit, since pandemic I have not viewed any traffic stops, especially around school zones and in general. I also observe many operators of vehicles could care less about traffic laws and defensive driving. Regarding DUI’s that is another story with not viewing any DUI check points.
Passengers in cars and on any public transportation would probably also not appreciate their phone locking past a mph cutoff.
They don’t have to like it. Way to many wrecks happens because of fools on their phones.
Enjoy having that new suburban break down constantly.
Should of stuck with the old school suburban as the GMT800 are the smartest pickups/SUVs on the road.
Quite a few people are telling me that. This is my 5th Suburban[2]/Yukon XL[2]. I presume all the technology will eventually fail. But engine and trans, xfer case, etc [I did get an AFM disabler, what a p-i-t-a AFM is]
I expect will have the same durability. Had 153k mi on the 06 Sub, 189k mi on the 02 Sub.
What do you know that I don’t? If space permits.
Imagine the gremlins that are lurking in these self driving cars. An electronic glitch in a regular vehicle may mean a trip yo the dealer. A glitch in a self driving far could mean a trip to the graveyard.
You are spot on! I drove tractor trailers for over 20 years and seeing what some people are doing while driving is absolutely horrifying. IMO, driver distraction and the rice rocket mentality of some kids today are the 2 major causes of this.
What in the HELL is going on GM, Ford, Dodge Chrysler , Nissan, etc,etc. These Cars are suppose to be made lighter, With better crash hard points and crumple zones and better human restraints systems , Along with air bags in the front, side and head regions of the driver and passenger areas . And were still having major traumatic injuries and death in these vehicles ! Has to be BAD/WEAK /CHEAP building materials OR Poor engineering !
Or distracted drivers pulling out in front of much larger vehicles that take 2 to 3 times the distance to stop. Hard to pin that on a manufacture.
The true reason is overconfident drivers. They believe that all that extra safety equipment will protect them if they speed or drive carelessly. I drive at lesser speeds now than when I was working, and I care about everyone else on the road.
Weight and speed will be a factor with EVs and you best believe the safety advocates and insurance companies will be on it.
It’s sad, but it doesn’t surprise me. The cars are faster then ever and there are basically tv screens in the middle of the dash, not to mention cell phones. Personally they need to get rid of the infotainment centers and just put a nice stereo. For navigation, just have it read to the driver verbally. Can’t do much with the cell phones.
In the case of C8 Corvettes, and I’m a Vette guy, own 2, a 1980 and 2013 GS, 0-60 in under 3 seconds is absolutely stupid. The average driver’s mind cannot keep up with the car. GM should insist on a driver ed class before the keys are handed over. And the Z06 will be even faster. Insanely faster.
Frustrated Drivers [after being cooped up for a yr, yr and a half]
Distracted Drivers
Faster Cars
Road Rage
What could possibly go wrong?!
As I am now 71 years young I seem to recall that the vehicle fatality rate was much higher in the old days. This is when there were less cars on the road and before airbags became mandatory. I believe in technology even though I positively loathe the centrally mounted display screens which controls the vehicles interior functions, a.k.a. Teslas and the other manufacturers that copied them. I like my Bolts manual touch knobs as I could adjust almost everything that I need driving in the nighttime. My Porsche also has knobs for most of the functionality but a bit more difficult to find in the dark without needing to take your eyes off the road. My wife’s Toyota RAV4 Hybrid isn’t too bad but ToyotaEntune needs a lot of work. I am an avid bike (pedaling) rider and drivers using cell phones scare me half to death. It is very difficult to engage eye contact when someone is engrossed in a phone conversation.
While vehicles are much nicer to drive today, they also go too fast for the average drivers’ ability. Add to that, all the other distractions such as cell phones, information centers and auto drive systems and the driver thinks they no longer need to pay attention to the original assignment, which was to drive from A to B safely. The excuse that today’s cars “handle” so much better than yesteryear’s did is no excuse for driving 90 mph in 70 mph zones. Today’s cars and pickups hard very difficult to “see” out of. The “A” and “C” pillars are located in positions that make it impossible to get a safe view in order to lane change, even while traveling at posted speed limits, they are also “thicker” dimensionally for structural stability in the event of a roll over, but they make clear vision, even at stop lights or signs very challenging. One last point, 55 years ago, cars with far less horsepower than today were deemed “uninsurable” due to safety concerns. What happened to that?
There are a number of things in play here.
#1 I am not buying more miles driven with the lock downs. There was no place to go. Also a number of us are now working at home. They say we are driving faster well yes because there is less traffic.
#2. Traffic enforcement has declined with the police budget cuts.
#3 people are still distracted most by their phones. Most have no idea of their car options.
#4 More states with legalized drugs and Pot.
#5 when people were driving they were also drinking more.
#6 Road Rage is at a all time high.
#7 Faster cars do not kill people. People driving cars kill people.
#8 Many truck drivers today are new and unskilled.
#8 Many drivers that have no license and not speaking English as the just came across the boarder.
There are a number of more factors in play here. Musch would be solved just by informing the present laws not more laws. god knows we have given way too much control already.
Which police budget cuts?
The many departments around the country that has the defunding done to them. Most were large cites.
New York City
Washington, D.C.
Baltimore
Philadelphia
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Atlanta
Minneapolis
Seattle
Salt Lake City
Portland, Oregon
Hartford, Connecticut
Norman Oklahoma,
Austin, Texas
According to Forbes, funding cuts ranged from $1 billion in New York City to $3.5 million in Seattle and $850,000 in smaller cities like Norman, Oklahoma. However, Forbes also reports that several cities have increased funding but not in patrolling areas.
There have been a number of lesser cities also seeing cut or the funding reallocated.
In many cases traffic patrol was one area affected as they had to move the man power.
Democratic run cities.
Austin is so understaffed no police officer is dispatched if your home was burglarized. The thief has to stick around and hold you hostage., since October 2021. Murders for 2022 are running at record rate here too. Last year matched the high rate in the 80’s. Sad really.
The Austin Police Department’s 2021 budget was a record-high $4.5 billion (with a B). Their funding increased from 2020 to 2021.
I decided to do the research for myself on this and here’s the news stories I found from 2021:
>New York City
“U.S. New York Police Get $200M Budget Increase”
>Washington D.C
“Committee Leaves DC Police Budget Largely Untouched”
>Baltimore
“Defund police? Not in Baltimore – Mayor Scott increases city police budget”
>Philadelphia
“The general budget for the Philadelphia Police Department itself remained steady from FY 2021 to FY 2022 at $727 million. The council did vote, however, to send the department an additional $14 million to equip all officers with Tasers over the next five years.”
>Los Angeles
“12% LAPD budget increase OK’d by police commission despite activists’ opposition”
>San Francisco
“San Francisco becomes latest city to increase police budget”
>Atlanta
“Looking back at 2019, the city’s police department budget was $194 million. Since then, every year their budget’s increased, to $207 million in 2020, $215 million in 2021, and $230 million that’s been approved for 2022.”
>Minneapolis
“One of the more controversial aspects of Frey’s proposal was a $27 million dollar increase in the Minneapolis Police Department’s budget for 2022.”
>Seattle
So far this is the only one I’ve found with clear, demonstrable police budget cuts:
“But the police department’s budget is smaller compared to years past. In 2021 budget was $363 million and in 2020 is was $401.8 million.”
>Salt Lake City
“With Increased Funding To SLCPD, Some Community Members Feel Calls To Defund Police Have Been Ignored”
>Portland
“On Wednesday, the Portland City Council unanimously passed a fall budget bump that included increasing the current $230 million police budget by an additional $5.2 million.”
> Hartford, Connecticut
“Hartford’s city council approved a $584 million, no-tax increase budget for the upcoming fiscal year, a 2.85% increase that will raise pay for police officers and add 24 new positions across the city.”
>Norman, Oklahoma
“The proposed FY21 budget included a $969,005 increase in the Police Department budget to cover increased personal costs for current positions.”
>Austin, Texas
“Austin City Council approves $4.5 billion budget, record police funding”
So of the 14 cities you named, 13 of them currently have higher budgets than they did before the George Floyd protests in 2020. Only Seattle has decreased their police budget, and that was a minor decrease.
All of this in direct response to the utter failure of knee-jerk post-Floyd woke anti-policing policies intended to placate the likes of yourself. The left’s brilliant plan to defund the police blew up in everyone’s face as evidenced by their own swift regulatory correction. Nice work.
So no police were ever actually defunded, but increased traffic fatalities are the fault of defunding police?
Are magic spells and potions involved too? How much fantasy are we involving here?
When they study this from a psychological/sociological perspective, they find that the vast majority of drivers think that they’re above-average in terms of safe driving skills, and it’s everyone else who is the problem. It has a bunch of names but I’ve always known it as the Theory of Illusory Superiority. The theory is about most behavior, but assumed driving skill is one of the easiest things to test it with.
Anyways, threads on accident statistics always remind me of it.
I personally, have had to avoid 3 young drivers hitting me head on due to the fact that they were texting and crossed into my lane. It was supposed to be unlawful to operate a vehicle while texting, but the next time you come to a stop light, just look around and see how many noses are buried in their phones. And forget about texting drivers moving when the light turns green, you have to wake them w a courtesy horn beep!
I was nearly killed and run off the road by a texting driver.
When I am out I see people texted and talking on the phone. So many can’t talk and drive at once.
Cars do not kill people people kill people.
I think this more than anything else. I’d be good with cellphones disabling all texting (including passenger) while in car. Not sure how you would detect. Maybe motion greater than 10mph in the last 5 minutes. Draconian I know. But I have seen such craziness as people texting and start crawling thru a red light because the took the pressure off the brake pedal. So even a car “stopped” can be a texting problem. Either this or change the law to be texting/driving if caught is a mandatory 1 year license suspension. And enforce it unlike the DUI laws.
Say Evan, you wrote
Enjoy having that new suburban break down constantly.
Should of stuck with the old school suburban as the GMT800 are the smartest pickups/SUVs on the road.
Quite a few people are telling me that. This is my 5th Suburban[2] / Yukon XL[2]. I presume all the technology will eventually fail. But engine and trans, xfer case, etc [I did get an AFM disabler, what a p-i-t-a AFM is] I expect will have the same durability. Had 153k mi on the ’06 Sub, 189k mi on the ’02 Sub.
What do you know that I don’t? If space permits.
Interesting since seat belt useage is mandatory, air bags are required, and vehicles are designed and built with crunch zone protection.
Could it be that most vehicles are now small unibodies built as disposable beer cans, and drivers are preoccupied with their smart phones, ear buds, blue tooths and front dash infotainment screen viewing while operating their rides.
Also much drive up food and beverage consumption is now occurring while the driver is operating the vehicle.
Check out the latest All State Insurance commercial.
Autonomous technology can and will be compromised. Never AT4me.
MIght also be seeing diminishing returns on all the improved safety features, road designs, and driver education being offset by distracted driving, less enforcement, etc. As to enforcement, on a freeway it now takes several officers to do a speed stop. On the interstate by me, I have seen anywhere from 2 to 4 squads, as every traffic stop is considered “high risk.”
This article is talking about a gain of .01 deaths per 100,000,000 Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT).
2021 = 1.36 VMT, 2020 = 1.35 VMT
Now let’s look at the “good old days”:
2010 = 1.11 Deaths per 100,000,000 VMTs
2000 = 1.53
1990 = 2.08
1980 = 3.35
1970 = 4.74
1960 = 5.06
1950 = 7.24
1940 = 10.89
Not to minimize the seriousness of traffic fatalities, and it may be disturbing that the gains made over the past 50+ years are being offset, so this needs to be watched, but I don’t know if it is time to push any panic buttons.
Something to consider – the newer safety features are appearing more often as new cars enter the market. On the downside, our current “Cash For Clunkers” program is resulting in a lot of older unsafe cars being driven daily.
Think about average transaction prices on Chevrolet being close to $50,000 in a recent month, as well as $27,000 for used cars. It’s all about the “chip” shortage which is expected to last several years. Now I know most of the readers here can afford whatever it takes to buy whatever they want, but with people of lessor means being shut out of the market, you will encounter vehicles that are not safe to be on the road.
One thing left out here is this is a hot topic from Transportation sec. Buttgig. He works for old Joe who is trying to distract people from the Economy.
Creating a new news topic and adding more controls like cameras and adjustable speeds will distract some from inflation and the other far left progressive thing being pushed.
We are at a time we must be alert to all things not just just the head lines.
Traffic fatalities are up because the same lawless, entitled attitude that’s taken over shopping (smash and grab, why not, they owe it to us) has taken over on the roads and pretty much everywhere else it seems. We’re just supposed to let these psychos put our families lives in danger every time we hit the road as some form of atonement, is that it? Just our way of saying we agree the civilization our forefathers built stinks and you have our blessing to transition the place into a Western version of Zimbabwe?
Call a spade a spade. Fund the police and Highway Patrol and start policing again. No arguing with what works. Let’s get this whacked Progressive “utopia” back in order while we still have a country.
Buttgag is a joke. The guy belongs on the cover of Mad Magazine playing tiddlywinks with his twin Alfred E. Neuman. Where do they find these people and how the Hell do they get promoted? We did this to ourselves.
Sorry for your mental illness, I hope you’re able to get some help for that.
Keep on tokin’ Commie, err Stubbe
Cool thanks!
Glorious illuminated Pot dispensary marquees all over the highway roadsides in the SF Bay Area toilet. Make crime illegal again and stop pushing getting high on our already troubled youth. The Globalists want this country to fail. It’s our job to root them out of our thoroughly corrupt “government” and fix this mess.
Recreational cannabis should be legal in all 50 states.
Fortunately, there are still states that reject the left’s aim to sabotage our civilization
Not for long.
I can say my mother was almost killed in the back seat with her seat belt always in with my uncle driving. A young girl ran a light messing with her cell phone. And yes, every car you see beside you is n their cell phones messing with them. They don’t need them driving and should be disabled. If somebody needs to talk and do things on them pull off the road. 99 percent out of 100 are on their cell phones. Just look around you.