In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a preview of the motor vehicle accident related fatalities in 2019 and early estimates for the motor vehicle accident related fatalities in the first half of 2020. These reports have brought in some promising numbers.

From 2018 to 2019, there has been an overall fatality decrease from 36,835 to 36,096 showing a 2% overall decrease. This decrease is also linked to an overall increase of 1% in miles driven. 2019 had the lowest numbers for motor accident fatalities in America since 2014.

In 2020, there have been significantly less people driving due to the increased amount of people staying home due to Covid-19. Because of this, projected numbers for 2020 are significantly reduced but the overall percentage of fatalities has increased. There will be more information available in months to come.

Numbers trending down over the past handful of years shows promising signs for vehicle safety and overall driver safety. There is a possibility that in 2020, these numbers have worsened but there are many factors that contribute to this. One of the few silver linings in 2020 is the lowered fatality rate from motor accidents.

For more information, visit the NHTSA’s article here