What's Driving the Rise in Traffic Deaths?

Road fatalities are rising sharply in the U.S. Some 17,775 people died in traffic incidents during the first six months of 2016, up 10.4 percent from 16,100 over the same timespan last year, according to the latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This “alarming uptick” comes on the heels of last year’s 7.2 percent spike in traffic deaths, which was the largest since 1966. That was primarily driven by increases in pedestrian, motorcyclist, and cyclist fatalities, the NHTSA found, which were attributed to the economy’s spring-back and lower gas prices. In 2015, vehicle-miles traveled increased about 3.5 percent over 2014—the greatest growth in a quarter-century. A similarly sharp rise in VMT occurred over the first half of 2016, with Americans driving 50.5 billion more miles compared to the same period in 2015, according to the NHTSA.