Traffic deaths declined during the second quarter of 2022 — marking the first drop after 7 straight quarters of year-to-year increases. But levels are still higher than before the pandemic.
, and Monday's figures indicate that the trend may be cooling — but levels remain higher than before the pandemic.
"Although it is heartening to see a projected decline in roadway deaths in recent months, the number of people dying on roads in this country remains a crisis," Ann Carlson, NHTSA's acting administrator, said in a statement.Overall, U.S. traffic deaths increased 0.5% during the first half of 2022, in comparison to the same period in 2021, NHTSA found.
Approximately 20,175 people died from traffic accidents during the first half of 2022 — the highest number of deaths during that period since 2006. Preliminary data from the Federal Highway Administration also shows that vehicle miles traveled during the first half of 2022 increased by about 43.2 billion miles, or 2.8%.