The scene of a multi-vehicle pile-up in Louisiana three years ago. The last time roads saw a year-to-year increase this large was half a century ago.
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As many as 35,092 people were killed in auto crashes in the United States in 2015, up 7.2 percent from the previous year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Monday.
Newly released government data paint a sobering picture of safety on the nation’s roads and highways.
A total of 35,092 people were killed on US roads in 2015, breaking a recent historical trend of fewer traffic deaths occurring per year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Monday. “Solving this problem will take teamwork, so we’re issuing a call to action and asking researchers, safety experts, data scientists, and the public to analyze the fatality data and help find ways to prevent these tragedies”. In Illinois, traffic deaths in 2014 were 924. Officials attribute the rise to more drivers on the road. Job growth and lower fuel prices factor in, and motorists are covering more ground.
The report on 2015 fatalities also showed that more pedestrians and bicyclists died in roadway accidents than at any point in the last 20 years. The Traffic Safety Administration found that nearly half of all passengers killed were not wearing seat belts and that 30 percent of fatalities involved drunk drivers or speeding.
The last time USA traffic fatalities rose at a greater rate was in 1966, when they went up 8.1 percent.
Nearly half of the passengers killed in vehicle accidents weren’t wearing seat belts, the agency said.
More than 35,000 people died in traffic crashes in 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday, with increases in almost every segment of the population.
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Nearly one in three fatalities involved drunk drivers or speeding, the DOT said. Distracted driving deaths, many due to texting, were involved in one of every ten fatalities.
