Statistics from last year indicated that traffic deaths had fallen to the lowest level since 1949.
Now, a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration compares the first half of 2012 with the first half of 2011 and projects a 9 percent increase (PDF). Officials at NHTSA called this the largest such increase during the first half of the year since the agency began collecting the crash data in 1975.
Why are traffic deaths trending upward?
This may be a statistical anomaly. With a mild winter in many parts of the country, people drove more. In addition, the recovering economy probably contributed to people driving more than before, and with more miles comes more wrecks.
No one knows when we will return to trending lower, but it seems inevitable. We now have safer vehicle and roads. It is likely that we will again see the rate of traffic deaths fall over time.
Now, a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration compares the first half of 2012 with the first half of 2011 and projects a 9 percent increase (PDF). Officials at NHTSA called this the largest such increase during the first half of the year since the agency began collecting the crash data in 1975.
Why are traffic deaths trending upward?
This may be a statistical anomaly. With a mild winter in many parts of the country, people drove more. In addition, the recovering economy probably contributed to people driving more than before, and with more miles comes more wrecks.
No one knows when we will return to trending lower, but it seems inevitable. We now have safer vehicle and roads. It is likely that we will again see the rate of traffic deaths fall over time.
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