NSC: Motor vehicle-related deaths top 40,000 for second straight year

Itasca, IL — An estimated 40,100 motor vehicle-related deaths occurred in 2017, according to preliminary data from the National Safety Council – a 1 percent decrease that is “not necessarily an indication of progress as much as a leveling off” of the sharpest two-year increase in 53 years.

In 2016, 40,327 motor vehicle-related deaths were recorded – the highest total in nine years and a rise from 35,398 fatalities in 2014 and 37,757 in 2015.

“The price we are paying for mobility is 40,000 lives each year,” NSC President and CEO Deborah A.P. Hersman said in a press release. “This is a stark reminder that our complacency is killing us. The only acceptable number is zero; we need to mobilize a full-court press to improve roadway safety.”