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First Quarter Crash Fatalities Hit a New High According to NHTSA

September 12th 2022

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released early estimates of traffic fatalities for the first quarter of 2022.

It is estimated that 9,560 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the first quarter of 2022. This would be an increase of approximately 7%. There were 8,935 fatalities projected for the first quarter of 2021 [1].

The increasing trend of fatalities in 2020 continued in 2021, and into the first quarter of 2022. The state with the highest absolute number of estimated fatalities in the first quarter of 2022 was Texas with 1,071, followed by Florida with 998, and California with 944 [2]. The states with the highest percent changes compared to the first quarter estimates from 2021 were Delaware at 163.2%, Connecticut at 73.6%, and Virginia at 71.8% [2]. Oppositely, the states with the lowest (reduction) percent changes were Rhode Island at -50%, North Dakota at -41.7%, and Montana at -32.7% [2]. Region 3 had the highest overall percent change compared to the first quarter of 2021 at 52%. Region 3 consists of KY, WV, VA, NC, MD, DE, and DC [2]. In March 2022 there were 3,350 total estimated fatalities, followed by January at 3,220 and February with 2,990 [2].

NHTSA estimates that the Final File for 2020 as well as the Annual Report File for 2021 will be available in the late fall of 2022. NHTSA is also continuing to gather and finalize data on crash fatalities for 2021 and 2022 using information from police crash reports and other sources [2].

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[1] https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/early-estimates-first-quarter-2022

[2] https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813337