US motor vehicle deaths drop slightly in first half of 2017, but remain higher than two years ago

Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths in the first six months of 2017 are one per cent lower than they were during the same six-month period in 2016. However, it says the country is fresh off the steepest estimated two-year increase in motor vehicle deaths since 1964 and it is too early to conclude whether the upward trend is over. The estimated deaths during the first six months of 2017 still are eight per cent higher than the 2015 six-month estimates, and the
August 17, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Preliminary estimates from the 4953 National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths in the first six months of 2017 are one per cent lower than they were during the same six-month period in 2016. However, it says the country is fresh off the steepest estimated two-year increase in motor vehicle deaths since 1964 and it is too early to conclude whether the upward trend is over.


The estimated deaths during the first six months of 2017 still are eight per cent higher than the 2015 six-month estimates, and the final six months of the calendar year – July to December – tend to be deadlier than the first six. An estimated 18,680 people have been killed on U.S. roads since January and 2.1 million were seriously injured. The total estimated cost of these deaths and injuries is US$191 billion.

"The price of our cultural complacency is more than a hundred fatalities each day," said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. "Although the numbers may be levelling off, the Road to Zero deaths will require accelerating improvements in technology, engaging drivers and investing in our infrastructure."

The National Safety Council has tracked fatality trends and issued estimates for nearly 100 years. Last winter, the Council estimated as many as 40,000 people were killed on the roads in 2016, a six per cent rise over 2015 and the largest two-year percentage increase in deaths in 53 years. Those estimates, as well as the 2017 preliminary estimates, are subject to slight increases and decreases as the data mature.   

Factors impacting motor vehicle fatality trends include an improved economy and lower gas prices, both of which have helped fuel a 1.7 percent increase in miles driven from 2016 to 2017.

Parking & Access Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Enforcement comes in many guises
    June 22, 2016
    Colin Sowman looks at some enforcement case studies from around the world. It is a sad fact of life that unenforced laws are not adhered to by a sometimes sizable proportion of the public and once enforcement is seen to be lacking, some drivers can take this to extremes and authorities must decide how to regain control.
    Read More
  • Europe’s road safety record suffers as austerity bites hard, say traffic police chiefs
    March 7, 2018
    Europe’s leading traffic police chiefs are struggling with the challenge of how best to manage the region’s road network in an era of austerity. Things are changing fast, and not for the better, reports Geoff Hadwick. Europe’s road safety record is under threat. Police budgets are being slashed, staff numbers are falling and a long-term trend towards ever-fewer road deaths has ground to a halt. The line on the graph has flat-lined. Does Europe’s road network face a far more dangerous future? Lower and
    Read More
  • StreetLight Data reveals most dangerous US cities for pedestrians
    July 3, 2023
    Research comes as GHSA says pedestrian deaths in US reached a 41-year high in 2022
    Read More
  • Can ADAS impact middle-income countries?
    September 20, 2013
    Recent research by SBD shows that road-related fatalities are the eighth leading cause of death globally with more than a million people dying each year. Middle income countries, which include most ASEAN economies, account for 72 per cent of the world’s population and contribute to about 80 per cent of road traffic fatalities.
    Read More

Highlighted Content