Traffic Deaths on Rise in 2021

According to a recent government report, the number of U.S. traffic deaths in the first nine months of 2021 was 31,720, 12% higher than it was last year in 2020 and the highest nine-month figure since 2006. 38 states reported an increase in fatalities. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg affirmed that over the next two years the department will offer federal guidance and billions in grants (part of the new infrastructure law) to spur changes such as lowering speed limits, embracing safer road design, providing better lighting and crosswalks, and urging the use of speed cameras, in addition to building out alternative modes of travel such as rail and public transit, considered safer modes of transport. 

He said, “People make mistakes, but human mistakes don’t always have to be lethal. In a well-designed system, safety measures make sure that human fallibility does not lead to human fatalities. That’s what we will be doing for America’s roads with the National Roadway Safety Strategy and the safe system approach that it embraces.”   Source