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 big uptick in risky driving behavior, leading to a spike in deaths. Traffic fatalities did eventually begin to decline shortly thereafter, trending down through the entirety of 2023, as well as 2024 and Q1 of 2025, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That was also the case for the first half of this year, too.
According to some early estimated data from the NHTSA, traffic fatalities in the U.S. declined by a substantial 8.2 percent over the first half of 2025, to 17,140 deaths, compared to 18,680 fatalities suffered over the first half of 2024. Notably, this decrease happened as the number of miles Americans drove in H1 increased by 12.1 billion. This means that the fatality rate per 100 million vehicles declined by 8.6 percent to 1.06, versus 1.16 in H1 2024 – the lowest such mid-year fatality rate since 2014.
On top of that good news, a total of 38 out of 50 U.S. states experienced a decline in traffic deaths, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Of that total, 11 states are projected to see an increase, while one is expected to remain unchanged, year-over-year.
The fatality rate in the first quarter of 2025 also decreased to 1.06 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, which was down from the rate of 1.13 from the same time in 2024. At the time, that was the lowest quarterly fatality rate since Q1 of 2019, all while the number of vehicle miles traveled in the first quarter of this year remained mostly flat at 4.3 billion miles, or about a 0.6 percent increase.
“These preliminary figures are encouraging and reflect NHTSA’s close collaboration with state and local partners, especially law enforcement, to improve safety on our roads,” NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser said. “But even as we see progress, these numbers are far too high, and we remain focused on reducing traffic fatalities even further.”
It outsells just about every other commercial model there, too.
The same upgraded alternator present in newer pony cars.
Another nice example of the hot hatch.
It will feature a new kind of 'silhouette," apparently.
Low- and middle-income households will be getting some new incentives.
