According to figures from road safety regulators, more than 9500 people died on US roads January through March 2022, the deadliest start to a year there since 2002.
Road safety regulators have released data that shows the US had the deadliest start to the year in two decades.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported 9560 road users were killed from the start of January until the end of March 2022.
These numbers are the highest road toll tally for the three-month period since 2002.
Road fatalities in the first three months of this year were seven per cent higher than the same period last year, when 8935 US road users died from January to March 2021.
The US road safety body attributed the increase deaths to increased travel following a relaxing of travel restrictions in the wake of the coronavirus.
US drivers covered approximately 40 billion miles (64.4 billion kilometres) more between January and March 2022 than the same period a year prior, a 5.6 per cent increase, the data showed.
Deaths per one million miles (1.6 million kilometres) increased by 1.6 per cent from 1.25 deaths to 1.27 deaths in the first three months of this year. The grim statistics mean more US road users are being killed while covering shorter distances.
In 2021, NHTSA recorded the highest US road toll in 16 years, when 42,915 drivers, passengers and other road users were killed throughout the 12-month period.
Compared to the same period in 2020 – which was impacted by COVID travel restrictions – fatal car crashes in the US rose by 10.5 per cent in 2021, becoming the largest year-on-year increase since NHTSA first recorded the road toll in 1975.
While 19 US states recorded a decline in the number of road fatalities in the first three months of this year, NHTSA administrator Dr Steven Cliff repeated calls for the US Government to invest more in road safety.
“The overall numbers are still moving in the wrong direction,” Dr Cliff said in a media statement.
“Now is the time for all states to double down on traffic safety. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, there are more resources than ever for research, interventions and effective messaging and programs that can reverse the deadly trend and save lives.”
In August 2021, the US Government committed approximately $US110 billion towards upgrading the country’s road network by legislating the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
An additional $US11 billion has been allocated towards improving road safety programs in the US.
Last month, a study from UK firm VNC Automotive – with input from the Accident Research Centre at Monash University in Victoria – found half of all car crashes which cause serious or fatal injuries can be attributed to distracted driving.
“The roads are busier than ever, touchscreens dominate vehicle interiors, and we’re living increasingly connected lives,” VNC Automotive CEO Tom Blackie said in a media statement.
“That means there are now many more opportunities for a driver’s focus to be elsewhere.”
In 2021, Australia’s road toll increased by 1.6 compared to 2020, as 1126 people died on the country’s roads.
Despite the number of road fatalities decreasing in New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, a spike in Queensland led to 27 more road users being killed than the year prior – the largest increase in the country.
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