Fatalities increased on US roads during 2012

Cause for concern comes from the US where the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency (NHTSA) has revealed an increase in road fatalities during 2012. The NHTSA’s statistical projection of traffic fatalities suggests that 34,080 people died in vehicle traffic crashes in 2012, an increase of about 5.3% over the 32,367 killed in 2011. This is a preliminary report and has still to be confirmed by a more thorough examination of the data, however if proven to be the case it will be the first year with a year-to-year increase in fatalities since 2005. Traffic fatalities in the US have steadily declining over the previous six years since reaching a near-term peak in 2005, falling some 26% between 2005 and 2011. Also, in 2012, fatalities increased in the first, second, third and fourth quarters, rising 12.6%, 5.3%, 3.2% and 1.7 %, compared to the respective quarters in 2011. Also of note is that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) vehicle km travelled in 2012 increased by about 14.56 billion km, or around 0.3%. The fatality rate/160 million vehicle km travelled, for 2012 is projected to increase to 1.16 fatalities/160 million vehicle km travelled, up from 1.10 fatalities/160 million vehicle km travelled in 2011. This rate surpasses the rate of 1.15 last reported in 2009.