NHTSA Says U.S. Traffic Fatalities Decreased In Q1 2025

Following the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, traffic levels decreased dramatically as many opted to simply stay home – and as a result, traffic fatalities declined. However, that was followed by a rather large uptick in risky driving behavior, leading to a spike in deaths. Traffic fatalities did eventually begin to decline shortly thereafter, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and through the first quarter of 2025, that continued to be the case.

As Ford Authority previously reported, U.S. traffic fatalities decreased in both 2023 and 2024, and now, the NHTSA is reporting that this trend perpetuated through the first three months of 2025, too. The latest data collected by that agency estimates that U.S. traffic fatalities dropped by a notable level, in fact – by around 6.3 percent in the first quarter with 8,055 lives lost, which marks twelve consecutive quarters of declines in fatalities – as well as the lowest fatality rate in six years.

That fatality rate in the first quarter of 2025 actually decreased to 1.05 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, which is down from the rate of 1.13 from the same time in 2024. This is the lowest quarterly fatality rate since the first quarter of 2019, all while the number of vehicle miles traveled in Q1 remained mostly flat at 4.3 billion miles, or about a 0.6 percent increase. In terms of individual states, the NHTSA estimates that 33 of them experiences a decrease in Q1 2025, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

“While traffic fatalities remain far too high, we are encouraged to see such a decline and pledge to continue working to drive down these numbers even more,” said NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser. “NHTSA will continue to use all of its resources to educate Americans about dangerous driving behaviors and advance meaningful policies that will save lives. The agency is also strengthening its relationships with law enforcement to ensure traffic laws are being enforced to save lives.”