NHTSA Releases Estimates on Traffic Fatalities

July 5, 2024

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released an estimate of traffic fatalities which showed how they continue to decline in the first quarter of 2024.

The NHTSA data released last month indicates that 8,650 people died in traffic crashes during the first three months of this year. This is a decrease of approximately 3.2 percent compared to the same period in 2023, when 8,935 fatalities were estimated.

NHTSA is forecasting that fatalities decreased in 30 states including Puerto Rico in the first quarter of 2024, while increases are projected in 19 states and the District of Columbia, compared to the same period last year, with one state remaining unchanged.

The report states that the estimated fatality rate for the first three months of 2024 decreased to 1.13 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, down from the projected rate of 1.18 fatalities during the same period in 2023.

The National Safety Council said the national school bus accident rate is 0.01 per 100 million miles traveled, compared to 0.04 for trains, 0.06 for commercial aviation and 0.96 for other passenger vehicles.

The U.S Department of Transportation reported 328 crashes between 2013 through 2015 involving school buses. These crashes are defined as resulting in a fatality, bodily injury requiring immediate medical attention, or a vehicle being towed. This equates to an average of 109 school bus-related crashes nationwide each year.

According to headlines tracked by STN during the first six months of this year, approximately 12 fatalities were reported during collisions involving school buses, other motorists and pedestrians. The most recent incident involved a mother and a child who were struck and killed by a school bus just a few blocks away from the child’s school in New York.

NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said in a statement that the agency is encouraged to see traffic fatalities continue to decline but more work must be done to reduce these preventable tragedies on the road.

Early this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation published its 2024 Progress Report. The report provides an update of the department’s efforts to address serious and fatal injuries on our roads and details the department’s accomplishments related to addressing the National Roadway Safety Strategy’s actions in 2023.