Urban interstate crashes fell 8% in the six-month period.
Pexels/Ekaterina Belinskaya
Traffic fatalities fell in nearly all categories in the first half of 2024, according to a breakdown of data compiled earlier this year that showed an overall drop in the number of deaths on U.S. roads.
Deaths across 14 categories, from speed-related crashes to pedestrian fatalities, fell during the period, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
The biggest decrease came in road deaths during travel across state lines, which fell 12%, the federal agency said. Pedestrian deaths, which have been growing at a fast pace in recent years, fell the least, by 3%.
Fatality volume also fell in the following categories:
- Ejected passengers (9%)
- In urban interstate crashes (8%)
- Passenger-vehicle occupants younger than 10 (7%)
- Unrestrained occupants of passenger vehicles (7%)
- Passengers on the whole (7%)
- Rollover crashes of passenger vehicles (6%)
- Passenger-vehicle occupants (6%)
- Speed-related crashes (6%)
- Crashes on rural and urban collector/local roads (5%)
- Road-departure crashes (5%)
- Nighttime crashes (4%)
- Weekend crashes (4%)
Overall traffic fatalities fell 3% year-over-year in the first six months, or 1.17 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, the agency announced in September.
It said the U.S. transportation department of which it’s a part started a program in 2022 to address traffic fatalities and serious injuries that has granted funds to more than 1,600 communities for road safety projects.
“We are encouraged by the declines estimated in these key categories but know we still have more work to do to make our roads safer for everyone,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said in a press release. “We will use every tool we have to save lives, reduce injuries and prevent risky driving behaviors.”
