2015 Traffic Death Spike is the Highest in 50 Years

Traffic deaths skyrocketed last year by the largest amount since 1966, erasing safety gains made in recent years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released raw 2015 data yesterday, revealing that 35,092 people died on U.S. roads — a 7.2 percent spike in fatalities compared to the previous year. The data shows the deaths weren’t confined to any particular demographic.

As bad as it sounds, the increase is less than the NHTSA’s July estimate of a 7.7-percent gain.

Vehicles are safer today than even a decade ago, when traffic deaths were 25-percent higher, but a range of factors cancelled out the extra airbags and driving aids offered up by automakers.

The NHTSA blames low fuel prices, job growth, increased leisure driving, and increased youth driving for the increase in vehicles on the road. Vehicle miles traveled rose by 3.5 percent in 2015, the largest increase in a quarter century. And more vehicles boost the odds that some of them will crash.

Data shows that old habits die hard — in this case, literally. Lawmakers have made gains in reducing impaired driving, but a third of last year’s crashes can be blamed on drunk driving and simple speeding. About half of the vehicle occupants killed weren’t wearing a seatbelt. One in ten deaths involved distracted driving.

The jump in fatalities occurred outside of vehicles, too. Motorcycle deaths rose 8 percent, while deaths of pedestrians and cyclists rose 20 percent compared to the year before.

Not surprisingly, the federal government wants to bring those numbers down. The Department of Transportation, along with the NHTSA and the White House released a call to action in the wake of the findings. The government wants experts, scientists and safety groups to propose “novel solutions to old challenges.”

“The data tell us that people die when they drive drunk, distracted, or drowsy, or if they are speeding or unbuckled,” said NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind in a release. “While there have been enormous improvements in many of these areas, we need to find new solutions to end traffic fatalities.”

At the very least, expect new campaigns against drunk, distracted and reckless driving in the short-term.

[Image: Bryce Watanabe/ Flickr]