Contact: Shane Austin
[email protected]
202.425.2776
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement by Cathy Chase, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), on 2024 Early Estimates of Traffic Fatalities Released Today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
(Washington, D.C. | April 8, 2025) “While it is encouraging that motor vehicle crash fatalities continued to decline in 2024, it is also sobering that they remain 8 percent higher than in 2019 and 21 percent higher than in 2011. With nearly 40,000 people still being killed on our roadways each year and millions more injured, we must continue efforts on the federal, state and local levels to implement proven solutions, as outlined in our 2025 Roadmap to Safety report. Additionally, reductions to personnel or budget for agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), will be counterproductive to solving this public health crisis.
We urge the Administration to prioritize the safety of all road users and retain needed resources for these transportation safety agencies. Moreover, Congress must prioritize safety advances as it commences consideration of the next surface transportation reauthorization legislation. And, the state legislatures which are still in session need to close gaps in traffic safety laws which put road users at unnecessary risk. With 108 people being killed on our roadways every day throughout the country, leadership is paramount to improve safety.”
FACTS:
- NHTSA’s early estimates of traffic fatalities for 2024 show that 39,345 people died in motor vehicle crashes, a 3.8 percent decrease from 2023.
- Finalized data from 2023 show that 40,901 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2023, a 4.3 percent decrease from 2022. The number of injuries increased 2.5 percent to 2.44 million in 2023.
- The leading crash contributors continue to be speeding, impairment, distraction, and lack of seatbelt use.
- Motor vehicle crashes cost the U.S. economy nearly $1.4 trillion in total societal harm in 2019, including $340 billion in direct economic costs. When adjusted for inflation alone, these totals are $1.77 trillion and $429 billion in 2025, respectively.
- Advocates released a statement on February 26, 2025 opposing potential dangerous cuts to roadway safety agencies within DOT, including NHTSA, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
###
About Advocates
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America’s roads safer. Advocates’ mission is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and contain costs.