For the first time in nearly a decade, preliminary 2016 data from the National Safety Council (NSC) estimates as many as 40,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes last year. That marks a 6-percent increase over 2015 and a 14-percent increase over 2014 -- the most dramatic two-year escalation since 1964. The preliminary estimate means 2016 may have been the deadliest year on the nation's roads since 2007. An estimated 4.6 million roadway users were injured seriously enough to require medical attention in 2016, and the estimated cost to society was $432 billion.
An NSC survey released Feb. 15 provides a glimpse into the risky things drivers are doing to cause this alarming increase in fatalities. Although 83 percent of drivers surveyed believe driving is a safety concern, a startling number say they are comfortable speeding (64 percent), texting either manually or through voice controls (47 percent), driving while impaired by marijuana (13 percent) or driving after they feel they've had too much alcohol (10 percent).
Motor vehicle fatality estimates are subject to slight increases and decreases as data mature. NSC uses data from the National Center for Health Statistics, an arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so deaths occurring within 100 days of the crash and on both public and private roadways -- such as parking lots and driveways -- are included in the council's estimates.
"Our complacency is killing us. Americans believe there is nothing we can do to stop crashes from happening, but that isn't true," said NSC President and CEO Deborah A.P. Hersman. "The U.S. lags behind the rest of the developed world in addressing highway fatalities. We know what needs to be done; we just haven't done it." With the upward trend showing no sign of subsiding, NSC is calling for the immediate implementation of life-saving measures that would set the nation on a road to zero deaths:
- Mandate ignition interlocks for convicted drunk drivers and better education about the nature of impairment and when it begins.
- Install and use automated enforcement techniques to catch speeders.
- Extend laws banning all cell phone use -- including hands-free -- to all drivers, not just teens, and upgrade enforcement from secondary to primary in states with existing bans.
- Upgrade seatbelt laws from secondary to primary enforcement and extend restraint laws to every passenger in every seating position in all kinds of vehicles.
- Adopt a three-tiered licensing system for all new drivers under 21, not just those under 18.
- Standardize and accelerate into the fleet automotive safety technologies with life-saving potential, including blind-spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings and adaptive headlights.
- Pass or reinstate motorcycle helmet laws.
- Adopt comprehensive programs for pedestrian safety.
NSC has issued traffic fatality estimates since 1921. Supplemental estimate information, including estimates for each state, can be found on its website.
Founded in 1913 and chartered by Congress, NSC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to eliminate preventable deaths at work, at home and on the road in areas where it can make the most impact: distracted driving, teen driving, workplace safety and prescription drug overdoses.
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For more information on the NSC survey, visit www.nsc.org or call (800) 621-7615
