Auto Fatalities on the Rise, Again

With so much new car safety technology, it’s hard to believe that traffic deaths would be on the rise. Yet that’s exactly what a new release from the National Safety Council revealed.

The organization shared that 40,000 auto fatalities occurred in 2016—which represents a 14 percent jump from 2014. The report follows in the wake of similar news in 2015.

Even still, there’s reason for hope. Car safety technology continues to advance, along with efforts to get self-driving cars on the road. Also, as we’ve reported earlier, these advances have have led no auto fatalities in a record number of vehicles during a three-year period.

The National Safety Council, in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, announced a new initiative called Road to Zero in 2016. The goal is ambitious: to eliminate all traffic fatalities in 30 years. The initiative Road to Zero includes not only roadway, behavioral and vehicle safety representatives, but also nonprofit groups, public health officials and technology companies – dozens of organizations working together to develop a coordinated approach to highway safety.

To learn more about the reasons behind the rise in auto fatalities and how the Road to Zero initiative can help reverse this unfortunate trend, check out the source article in The New York Times.