Preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicates a 3.2% drop in total traffic deaths in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. The report estimates that 18,720 people were killed in crashes during the first six months of 2024, down from 19,330 in the first half of 2023. Additionally, traffic fatalities have decreased for nine consecutive quarters. However, the report did not specify the number of fatalities involving large trucks within the overall figures.

“Continuing the trend identified in the first-quarter estimates released in June, preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration show that vehicle miles traveled in the first half of 2024 increased by about 13.1 billion miles, or roughly 0.8% higher than the same time period last year,” NHTSA said. “More miles driven combined with fewer traffic deaths resulted in a fatality rate of 1.17 fatalities per 100 million VMT, down from the projected rate of 1.21 fatalities per 100 million VMT in the first half of 2023.”

“Reversing the rise in roadway deaths has been a top priority for this department, so we’re encouraged to see continued reductions in traffic fatalities — yet the overall proportions of this issue remain at crisis levels and there is much more work to do,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Safety is at the core of our mission, and we are using funds from the Biden-Harris infrastructure package to deliver lifesaving resources to communities across the country so that roads become safer for everyone.”

“We are heartened by this decline in fatalities and are continuing to work hard to get to zero fatalities through our National Roadway Safety Strategy,” Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg said. “This initiative addresses every aspect of this crisis — ensuring that our work results in safer vehicles, safer speeds, safer roads and safer people while also addressing saving lives after crashes.”

Since January 2021, the NHTSA has implemented numerous safety measures to reduce traffic fatalities, including a mandate for passenger cars and light trucks to have automatic emergency braking systems by 2029. In collaboration with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency is working on a similar requirement for heavy vehicles. These efforts align with the National Roadway Safety Strategy, which aims to significantly reduce serious injuries and fatalities on U.S. highways, roads, and streets.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a noticeable increase in traffic deaths and the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 2020, with this trend continuing into 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. However, fatalities have declined for nine straight quarters—from the second quarter of 2022 through the first two quarters of 2024—after seven consecutive quarters of year-over-year increases beginning in the third quarter of 2020.

The NHTSA noted that the 2023 and 2024 fatality figures, as well as the percentage changes between these years, will be updated once the Fatality Analysis Reporting System Annual Reporting File for 2023 is released later this year and once the Final File for 2023 and the Annual Reporting File for 2024 become available next year.