Traffic deaths across the United States dropped slightly last year, but government officials said the 42,795 people who died is still a national crisis, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) projections released on April 20.
Estimates by NHTSA showed that the number of fatalities dropped 0.3 percent, compared to 42,939 killed in 2021.
Traffic deaths declined slightly in the fourth quarter, the third straight quarterly drop.
However, according to NHTSA, not every state saw a decline in road deaths, and 23 states are projected to experience increases.
These five states, in particular, represent 37 percent of the total road deaths in 2022: Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina….