WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Oct. 22 released highway crash fatality data for 2018, showing a 2.4% decline in overall fatalities, the second consecutive year of reduced crash fatalities.
According to a release, under this administration and Secretary Chao’s leadership, the USDOT has focused on safety as its top priority.
“This is encouraging news, but still far too many perished or were injured, and nearly all crashes are preventable, so much more work remains to be done to make America’s roads safer for everyone,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao stated.
The data, compiled by NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), show that highway fatalities decreased in 2018 with 913 fewer fatalities, down to 36,560 people from 37,473 people in 2017. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled also decreased by 3.4% (from 1.17 in 2017 to 1.13 in 2018), the lowest fatality rate since 2014.
In State, County
New Jersey State Police statistics, shown on its website, state there were 440 fatalities in the state in 2018. To date, there have been 450 deaths in the state.
Cape May County has recorded 11 fatalities from crashes to date this year.
Other findings
The 2018 FARS data includes:
· Fatalities among children (14 and younger) declined 10.3 %.
· Alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities declined 3.6%.
· Speeding-related fatalities declined 5.7%.
· Motorcyclist fatalities declined 4.7%.
“New vehicles are safer than older ones and when crashes occur, more new vehicles are equipped with advanced technologies that prevent or reduce the severity of crashes,” NHTSA Acting Administrator James Owens stated. “NHTSA has spent recent years partnering with state and local governments and safety advocates to urge the public to never drive impaired or distracted, to avoid excessive speed, and to always buckle up.”
In addition to the 2018 numbers, NHTSA also released initial estimates for the first half of 2019, which suggests that this overall positive trend may be continuing.
The estimated number of fatalities in the first-half of 2019 declined by 3.4% from the same period in 2018, with 589 fewer fatalities over that time.
That translates into an estimated first-half 2019 fatality rate of 1.06, the lowest first-half level since 2015. The estimates for the second quarter of 2019 represent the seventh-consecutive year-over-year quarterly decline in fatalities, starting in the last quarter of 2017.
NHTSA is identifying opportunities to leverage its resources and collaborate with modal partners within USDOT to reduce fatalities among pedestrians and pedalcyclists (bicyclists and riders of two-wheel, nonmotorized vehicles, tricycles, and unicycles powered solely by pedals), among whom 2018 fatalities unfortunately increased by 3.4% (to 6,283) and 6.3% (to 857), respectively.
According to the FARS Data:
· Pedestrian fatalities occurred overwhelmingly after dark (76%), when many pedestrians had some alcohol in their systems (38%), and were not at intersections (74%), i.e. crossing in the middle of a street or road.
· Pedalcyclist fatalities often occurred after dark (50% of the time), with some alcohol in their systems (26%), and outside of intersections (60%).
To Address These Numbers:
· NHTSA is examining current and planned research related to these vulnerable road users, including recently announced plans for upgrades to the New Car Assessment Program – the five-star NCAP rating system for new vehicles. As part of these NCAP upgrades, NHTSA will consider new technologies tied to the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, among other vulnerable road users.
· The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is working to reduce fatalities with the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program, which promotes safe, comfortable, and convenient walking and bicycling for people of all ages and abilities.
· FHWA also is focused on pedestrian and bicycle transportation through funding, policy guidance, program management, and resource development, and the availability of an FHWA bicycle and pedestrian coordinator point of contact in each of its division offices.
The 2018 FARS release also clarifies previously released data on large trucks involved in fatal crashes. NHTSA re-examined supporting material and re-classified several light pickup trucks to an appropriate large truck category.
As a result, the 9% increase in large-truck-related fatalities reported for 2017 has been revised to 4.9%. For 2018, large-truck related fatalities increased by 0.9%.
The details of the scope of the changes are documented in the 2018 fatal motor vehicle crashes overview research note.
With this release, NHTSA also introduced its new Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST), a modernized crash query tool that lets users not only query fatal crash data but also generate estimates of crashes and people injured in crashes.
The upgraded functionalities in the new tool include generating multi-year trends, estimates of alcohol-involvement, and charting/tabulation/mapping of query results. The tool, along with instructions on its usage, can be accessed at: https://bit.ly/32F53ee.
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