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Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities in 2014
A statistical projection of traffic fatalities shows that an estimated 32,675 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2014. This represents a very marginal decrease of about 0.1 percent as compared to the 32,719 fatalities that were reported to have occurred in 2013, as shown in Table 1. Also in 2014, fatalities decreased in the first (down 3.9%), second (down 0.2%), and third (down 1.9%) quarters and increased in the fourth (up 5.0%) quarter, as compared to the corresponding quarters in 2013. Preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) shows that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 2014 increased by about 27.3 billion miles, or about a 0.9-percent increase. On a quarterly basis, the 2014 VMT, since decreasing by 0.3 percent in the first quarter, has increased in each subsequent quarter of 2014 (by 1.8%, 2.1% and 3.0% in the second, third, and fourth quarters, respectively). The fatality rate for 2014, per 100 million VMT, is projected to decrease to 1.08 fatalities per 100 million VMT, down from 1.09 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2013. Also, the 5-percent increase in fatalities in the fourth quarter of 2014 represents the first quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2012. The actual counts for 2013 and 2014 continue to be updated, and the number of fatalities as well as the ensuing percentage-changes and fatality rates are, therefore, subject to revision with the release of the final file for 2013 and the annual report and final files for 2014.