News

Read the latest news and announcements from traffic safety interest groups and about traffic safety topics here.

  • June 19th, 2020

A variety of traffic safety events take place each year, and NHTSA compiles them into two helpful PDF calendars. Discover the 2021 events and learn how you can get involved! Stay informed with the latest NHTSA/TSM calendars. Download the 2021 Highway Traffic Safety Events Calendar Download the 2021 NHTSA Communications Calendar

  • June 16th, 2020

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), is launching the 2020 national rail grade crossing safety campaign to increase public awareness about the dangers around railroad tracks in hopes to reduce fatalities at rail grade crossings. Motor vehicle crashes at rail […]

  • June 16th, 2020

Bad assumptions make data from Weeks 1-14 insufficient. Please see accurate data from Week 15 forward.  It is Week 14 of the coronavirus pandemic, and total crash data is still showing a decline in Alabama. Overall, crashes have declined to less than 40% of their pre-COVID-19 levels, INCLUDING speed-involved and fatal crashes, but are now […]

  • June 12th, 2020

Motor vehicles are the primary mode of transportation for most of us, and often, an indispensable part of our lives. Having said this, nearly $6 billion was lost to motor vehicle thefts in 2018.  What would happen if yours suddenly disappeared? There were 748,841 motor vehicles stolen in 2018. Only 59.3% of all stolen motor […]

  • June 9th, 2020

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) works to reduce the occurrence of distracted driving and raise awareness of its dangers. This risky behavior poses a danger to vehicle occupants as well as pedestrians and pedalcyclists. Driver distraction is a specific type of driver inattention. Distraction occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving […]

  • June 9th, 2020

In 2018 there were 6,907 people 65 and older killed in traffic crashes in the United States, 19 percent of all traffic fatalities. Between 2017 and 2018 there was a 1-percent increase in the number of 65 and older killed in traffic crashes.  For the purpose of this fact sheet “older” drivers, occupants and nonoccupants […]

  • June 9th, 2020

The Speeding Traffic Safety Fact Sheet summarizes speeding-related crashes in 2018.  Among the key findings: There were 36,560 traffic fatalities in 2018; among them, 9,378 (26%) were in crashes involving at least one speeding driver. Speeding-related fatalities in 2018 decreased by 6 percent from 2017, from 9,947 to 9,378. In 2018, some 30 percent of […]

  • June 9th, 2020

In 2019, seat belt use in the United States ranged from 70.7 percent in New Hampshire to 97.1 percent in Hawaii. Twenty-six States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands achieved seat belt use rates of 90 percent or higher. These results are from probability-based observational surveys conducted by the 50 States, […]

  • June 9th, 2020

This Research Note provides information on fatalities to people of all ages and children 14 and younger, in particular, who were involved in “motor vehicle non-crash incidents” (herein referred to as “non-crash incidents”) over the four-year period: 2008 to 2011. The data on such incidents was obtained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through […]

  • June 9th, 2020

This Traffic Safety Facts report briefly summarizes findings on pedalcyclist fatalities in 2018.  There were 857 pedalcyclist deaths in 2018, about 2.3 percent of all traffic fatalities during the year. 79 percent of pedalcyclists died in crashes in urban areas. Over the 10-year period 2009 to 2018, the average age of pedalcyclists killed in motor […]