ARLINGTON, Va. (Reuters) – U.S. traffic deaths jumped 10.4 percent in the first six months of 2016 to a “crisis” level, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Wednesday.
The NHTSA said road deaths in the first half totaled 17,775 and said the number was likely to be higher in the second half due to warmer weather and seasonal driving.
The jump in the first half of the year follows a spike in 2015, when road deaths rose 7.2 percent to 35,092, the highest full-year increase since 1966. NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind called the rising deaths a “crisis” and urged swift actions to reverse the rising trend after years of declines.
The U.S. Transportation Department said it believes it “is now increasingly likely that the vision of zero deaths and serious injuries can be achieved in the next 30 years.”
The U.S. Transportation Department said vehicle miles driven rose 3.3 percent in the first half of 2016. The fatality rate in the first half of the year has risen to its highest since 2009, NHTSA said.
Much of the increase in 2015 was driven by a jump in pedestrian, motorcycle, and bicycle deaths, NHTSA said. Rosekind and other policy makers at an event outside Washington called for eventually reaching “zero road deaths.”