In 2020 There Were More Vehicle Fatalities Since 2007 - Roads Are Getting More Dangerous

Special To The Auto Channel From Nick VinZant
QuoteWizard by LendingTree
November 11, 2021

America’s roads are getting more dangerous. Traffic fatalities went up 8% in 2020, and in many states, 2021 is turning out to be even more deadly. Our analysts looked at the latest information on fatal crashes and found that the number of traffic fatalities is up across almost every measurement, especially among young people and people of color.

Key findings:

Traffic fatalities increased by 16% in the first half of 2021.
Oregon, South Dakota and Mississippi each experienced a 50% increase in fatalities.
People ages 25-34 saw the largest increase in traffic fatalities.
Speeding-related deaths increased by 11% in 2020.
Traffic fatalities among men and Black people increased by 9% and 23% respectively.

Traffic fatalities in 2021

The number of people killed on America’s roads increased by 16% in the first half of 2021. This increase, though, varies greatly from state to state. Traffic fatalities increased by 20% in 18 states and by more than 50% in Oregon, South Dakota and Mississippi.

Even more concerning is that this increase in traffic fatalities is happening after a particularly deadly year. Traffic fatalities reached a 13-year high in 2020 when 42,000 people died on America’s roads. And when compared to 2019 statistics, Vermont and South Dakota have experienced increases of 100% or more in fatalities.

The increase in traffic fatalities is closely tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first statewide coronavirus lockdowns went into effect in March of 2020, which is when we start to see an increase in the number of speeding-related deaths. This increase becomes even more pronounced during the summer, before declining toward the end of 2020. Speeding-related statistics are not yet available for 2021, but overall, the number of speeding-related deaths increased by 11% in 2020 while the total number of miles driven went down.

The increased number of speeding-related deaths is even more telling when broken down by region. We found that states in the northeast and south had the largest increases in speeding-related deaths, while the western half of the country saw declines of between 3% and 11%.

Traffic fatalities by state
State	# of traffic fatalities, first half of 2020	# of traffic fatalities, first half of 2021	% change in fatalities from 2020	% change in fatalities from 2019
Alabama	411	487	18%	9%
Alaska	24	22	-8%	-37%
Arizona	470	597	27%	23%
Arkansas	294	323	10%	33%
California	1,523	1,848	21%	20%
Colorado	250	288	15%	16%
Connecticut	148	147	-1%	43%
Delaware	47	53	13%	18%
Florida	1,716	1,818	6%	5%
Georgia	708	911	29%	24%
Hawaii	43	44	2%	-25%
Idaho	77	107	39%	16%
Illinois	442	543	23%	28%
Indiana	381	415	9%	21%
Iowa	113	145	28%	-2%
Kansas	206	166	-19%	-18%
Kentucky	327	370	13%	8%
Louisiana	384	431	12%	28%
Maine	69	54	-22%	-29%
Maryland	207	240	16%	7%
Massachusetts	163	178	9%	14%
Michigan	427	523	22%	24%
Minnesota	150	211	41%	39%
Mississippi	204	319	56%	24%
Missouri	445	476	7%	26%
Montana	85	104	22%	41%
Nebraska	101	104	3%	-5%
Nevada	131	181	38%	44%
New Hampshire	45	51	13%	21%
New Jersey	238	262	10%	6%
New Mexico	190	211	11%	8%
New York	351	398	13%	19%
North Carolina	717	855	19%	23%
North Dakota	36	46	28%	2%
Ohio	496	601	21%	19%
Oklahoma	268	317	18%	21%
Oregon	173	261	51%	22%
Pennsylvania	513	536	4%	-4%
Rhode Island	34	32	-6%	23%
South Carolina	450	515	14%	12%
South Dakota	43	65	51%	103%
Tennessee	526	682	30%	28%
Texas	1,765	2,063	17%	20%
Utah	110	150	36%	47%
Vermont	21	28	33%	155%
Virginia	378	403	7%	5%
Washington	236	249	6%	5%
West Virginia	120	124	3%	8%
Wisconsin	244	242	-1%	5%
Wyoming	41	46	12%	-43%
United States	18,480	21,450	16%	17%

Speeding-related deaths by region
Region	States in region	# of speeding-related deaths in 2020% change from 2019	% change from 2019
Region 1	Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont	218	-0.90%
Region 2	New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands	1060	21.00%
Region 3	Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia	1,111	20.40%
Region 4	Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee	1,571	11.00%
Region 5	Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin	1,527	9.10%
Region 6	Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas	2,018	25.50%
Region 7	Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska	771	11.90%
Region 8	Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming	538	9.60%
Region 9	Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada	1,271	-11.40%
Region 10	Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington	410	-3.10%

Demographic breakdown of fatal crashes

Young people, people of color and men have been disproportionately affected by the increase in fatal crashes over the last year. The number of traffic fatalities rose by 13% among people under 24, 23% among Black people and 9% in men. Older Americans and people of Asian or Pacific Islander descent, however, showed a decrease in total number of traffic fatalities.

Traffic fatalities by demographic
Race	# of traffic fatalities in 2020	% change since 2019
White	29,092	3.7%
Black	7,494	23.1%
American-Indian	645	10.6%
Asian/Pascific Islander	565	-28.7%
All other races	884	54.3%

Most dangerous types of roads

The type of roadway and method of transportation can have a substantial impact on the severity of a crash. City highways and rural roads saw the most fatal crashes, while fatalities involving motorcycles or alcohol increased by nearly 10%. The number of fatalities involving large trucks decreased by 2%, but with nearly 4,900 people killed in 2020, the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks is still well above numbers from the early 2010s when around 3,500 people were killed.

Traffic fatalities by roadway
Roadway	# of traffic fatalities in 2020	% change since 2019
Rural interstate	2,049	3.10%
Urban interstate	3,080	14.70%
Rural arterial	7,898	3.10%
Urban arterial	13,397	5.00%
Rural collector/local	7,524	11.40%
Urban collector/local	4,735	11.60%

Traffic fatalities by type
Type	# of traffic fatalities in 2020	% change since 2019
Motorcycle	5,458	8.80%
Pedestrians	6,236	0.50%
Pedalcyclists	891	5.30%
Involving large trucks	4,895	-2.20%
Alcohol-involved	7,324	9.20%
Single-vehicle	21,596	9.40%
Multi-vehicle	17,084	4.40%
Departure	18,553	3.40%
On-road	20,126	10.80%

The National Safety Council estimates that 42,060 people died on America’s roadways in 2020. That’s the highest number of fatalities since 2007 and it comes at an unexpected time. Americans drove 430 billion fewer miles in 2020. Traffic volume dropped 13.2% in 2020 but the fatality rate per miles driven increased by nearly 24%.

What’s behind the alarming increase in traffic fatalities? Factors vary for every crash, but the data points to young drivers going too fast on less-congested roadways. Speeding-related deaths began increasing in March, right as the first lockdowns were put in place and traffic volume started to decline. Drivers under the age of 34 had the largest increase in traffic fatalities. And single-vehicle crashes on urban highways increased by 9% and 14%, respectively.

There are signs, however, that the sharp increase in fatal crashes will be a temporary trend. The number of traffic fatalities has steadily decreased since the 1970s. And when we look at the second half of 2020, the number of fatal crashes decreased or remained at 2019 levels for the same month.

Methodology

Traffic fatality data was sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and National Safety Council (NSC). NSC data was used to calculate the number of deaths in each state in 2019 and 2020. To calculate the number of speeding-related deaths, we took the total number of deaths for each monthly period and multiplied it by the percentage of speeding-related deaths provided by the NHTSA. Definitions for types of fatalities and roadway categories follow NHTSA guidelines.