US Traffic Fatalities Reached a 16-Year High in 2021

June 18, 2022

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released its early estimate of traffic fatalities for 2021.

NHTSA projects that an estimated 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes last year, a 10.5% increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020. The projection is the highest number of fatalities since 2005 and the largest annual percentage increase in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System’s history.

In response to this crisis, earlier this year USDOT unveiled the National Roadway Safety Strategy that is now getting resources from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law