Addressing America’s Traffic Safety Crisis – September 2026

Traffic fatalities of motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists represent a critical safety crisis in the U.S., claiming 241,637 lives from 2020 to 2025.  After surging in 2020 and 2021 as the nation grappled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, traffic fatalities in the U.S. have decreased four years in a row.  However, despite the decrease in traffic fatalities over the past four years, traffic fatalities in 2025 were three percent higher than a decade ago.

This report documents trends in U.S. traffic fatalities from 2015 to 2025 at the national and state levels, examines causes for the increase in traffic fatalities, and prescribes a broad, comprehensive approach to reducing traffic fatalities in the U.S.