Dec. 23, 2019—The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today released highway crash fatality data for the first 9 months of 2019. Data shows a reduction of 2.2 percent compared to the first 9 months of 2018.
“This is positive news, but more work remains to be done to make our roads safer for everyone,” said U.S. transportation secretary Elaine L. Chao.
Preliminary data from the Federal Highway Administration shows vehicle miles traveled in the first 9 months of 2019 increased by approximately 24 billion miles, about a 1 percent increase. The fatality rate for the first 9 months of 2019 decreased to 1.10 fatalities per 100 million VMT, down from the 1.13 fatalities in the first 9 months of 2018.
