Motor Vehicle Fatalities Up 9 Percent, Could Be the Deadliest Labor Day Since 2008
The National Safety Council reports there are no signs of a decrease in 2016.
That National Safety Council estimates motor vehicle deaths will be 9 percent higher through the first six months of 2016 than in 2015 and 18 percent higher than two years ago. Roughly 19,100 people have been killed on the roads since January, while 2.2 million were seriously injured. The cost of these incidents is $205 billion.
States such as Florida, Georgia, Indiana, California, North Carolina, Illinois, and Kentucky are all seeing big jumps in the year-over-year increases in injuries, according to NSC's report.
"Our complacency is killing us," lamented Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council and former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board. "One hundred deaths every day should outrage us. Americans should demand change to prioritize safety actions and protect ourselves from one of the leading causes of preventable death."
The council attributes the increases to a stronger economy and lower unemployment, as well as lower gas prices.
Ominously, the council said this increase in highway deaths caused it to issue its highest fatality estimate for the Labor Day holiday period since 2008. NSC estimates 438 people will be killed during the three-day holiday weekend.