03/27/2020

U.S. Highway Deaths Declined in 2019

Source: Fleet Management Weekly

Preliminary numbers indicate the U.S. highway death toll tumbled by about 2% last year marking the second consecutive annual decline, according to the National Safety Council, if the initial estimate holds when federal regulators release final data.

The NSC pointed to a variety of possible factors that could have led to last year’s reduction in highway fatalities, notably including legislation targeting “common crash causes,” such as drunk and drugged driving, distracted driving and excessive speeds.

Experts are just beginning to pour over data to try to get a better handle on what is happening on the highway. Indeed, it is far from clear why highway deaths rose by nearly 20% from 2010, when the economy bottomed out, through 2018, when the total rose to 40,231.

Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.