US traffic deaths fell 2% in 2019; 3rd straight yearly drop

In this Jan. 24, 2020 file photo, early rush hour traffic rolls along I-10 in Phoenix. Traffic deaths in the U.S. fell for the third straight year in 2019, the government’s road safety agency said Thursday, Oct. 1. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the downward trend is continuing into this year with people driving fewer miles due to the pandemic. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Traffic deaths in the U.S. fell for the third consecutive year in 2019, the government’s road safety agency reported.

The downward trend is continuing into this year with people driving fewer miles due to the pandemic, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday.

The agency says deaths fell 2% last year, to 36,096. That’s 739 fewer than the 36,835 fatalities reported to the agency in 2019.

The decrease came even though vehicle miles traveled increased by nearly 1%, reducing the fatality rate to 1.1 per 100 million miles traveled. That was the lowest since 2014.

The agency says…

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