Traffic deaths surged 10.5% in 2021, the most since 2005

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is projecting that 2021 was the grimmest year for traffic fatalities since 2005, with a 10.5% increase, according to the most recent data released Tuesday. NHTSA estimates there were 42,915 traffic fatalities on U.S. roads in 2021, capping a year that set records in the first quarter, the first half and into Q3.

Traffic deaths have gone up for three straight years. The preliminary figures would be the highest number of deaths since 2005, when 43,443 people were killed in traffic accidents. The 10.5% annual increase is also said to be the highest jump since the Fatality Analysis Reporting System began in 1975.

All 10 NHTSA regions posted increases in road deaths. Only six states managed to lower their road death tally; the other 44 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, posted jumps over 2020. Nor was it just one or two types of crashes that were to blame. Deaths from multi-vehicle crashes and crashes on urban roads were both up 16%, deaths in daytime crashes, among seniors over 65, involving pedestrians, and involving at least one large truck were all up more than 10%.