Photo: Doug Pensinger / Getty Images
More of 42, people died in car accidents last year, marking the deadliest year in the US highways from 2005.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) reported that it is estimated that 42,915 Dead people, which means an increase of 10.5% with with respect to 2020, when they registered 38,824 deaths, vs. 36,744 of 2019, despite the coronavirus lockdowns that were in force for much of the year.
The report arrived in the same week in that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced a $6 billion grant program to support local highway safety programs.
“This crisis on our highways is both urgent and preventable,” said Dr. Steven Cliff, NHTSA Deputy Administrator.
“We will redouble our security efforts and we need everyone, state and local governments, security advocates, manufacturers of cars and drivers, join us. Our entire lives depend on it.”
Preliminary data shows that miles traveled increased by 10.2 in 2021 and that 44 states saw increases in deaths.
Peaks of 16%, both in multi-vehicle accidents and deaths on urban roads, while deaths among the elderly increased by 14%.
The Governors Highway Safety Association has said that a combination of increases in speeding, distracted driving, driving under the influence and “roads designed for speed rather than safety” has begun to undo a decade and average progress in reducing road traffic fatalities, reaching a recent low of 32,744 in 2017.
The new DOT program makes money available for a variety of projects ranging from new turn lanes and pedestrian protections to lowering speed limits and installing speed cameras.
Read more
Pennsylvania teacher arrested for having sex with student when her husband told the director
Griffith Park fire put the mansions of Hollywood celebrities
The remains of a springbreaker from 17 missing years were found 13 years later in South Carolina