AASHTO Journal, 28 September 2012
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released preliminary data Wednesday showing that traffic crash fatalities in the first six months of the year is up 9 percent from the first half of 2011, resulting in the largest half-year increase since the organization began collecting that data and marking the first time since 2006 the number did not go down.
NHTSA reports that 16,290 traffic fatalities occurred between January 1 and the end of June this year, up from 14,950 for the same period of time last year.
“We need every state transportation department to focus on fatality reduction in this last quarter of the year. That effort includes all our partners, such as state police, EMS personnel, public health officials, governors’ safety officials, and those at the metro and county level,” said Tony Kane, director of engineering and technical services at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. “We must remain vigilant if we hope to continue to reduce roadway fatalities on our journey toward zero highway deaths in the U.S.”
Though the number of traffic fatalities increased, the long-term trend remains downward. The years 2005-2009 all saw a higher number of traffic fatalities than first half of 2012 data show. The report also examined the fatality rate per vehicle miles of travel. In the first half of 2012, NHTSA reports a fatality rate of 1.12 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. That rate for the same period of time was 1.04 in both 2011 and 2010, but was higher than 1.12 from 2005-2009. The general trend is important when looking at the current elevated numbers, NHTSA said.
“While it is too soon to speculate on the contributing factors or potential implications of any increase in deaths on our roadways, it should be noted that the historic downward trend in traffic fatalities in the past several years — a pattern which has continued through the early estimates for 2011 released recently that show deaths at a 60-year low — means any comparison will be to an unprecedented low baseline figure,” the report states.
NHTSA’s data on traffic fatalities for the first half of 2012 is available at bit.ly/2012crash.