U.S. Traffic Deaths Continued to Spike in 2021
The number of people killed on U.S. roads jumped 18.4% — the largest six-month increase in traffic fatalities on record — as car travel picked up.
Police in Chelsea, Massachusetts, inspect a vehicle after a crash in May 2021.
Photographer: JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
The pandemic triggered a harrowing increase in deaths on U.S. roads. As emptier lanes during Covid-19 shutdowns saw more speeding, drunk driving and failure to wear a seat belt, an estimated 38,680 people died in 2020, the most since 2007.
In the first six months of 2021, with the economy reopening and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) increasing, the number of fatalities has only climbed higher: Preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows more than 20,000 people died on U.S. roads in the first half of 2021. Up 18.4% from 2020, it was the largest six-month jump in traffic fatalities on record.