FIRST HALF OF 2016 FATALITIES UP 9% OVER 2015

-> The newly-released USDOT data from the first half of 2016 shows a disturbing increase in traffic deaths. The National Safety Council recently estimated that motor vehicle fatalities rose 9% in the first six months of 2016 compared to 2015, and 18% compared to 2014. At this rate, 2016 is shaping up to be the deadliest year for driving since 2007. The jump in traffic fatalities coincides with sinking gas prices and an uptick in driving. During the first half of 2016, U.S. motorists collectively drove 3.3% more compared to last year, reaching 1.58 trillion miles traveled. The recent upswing in miles driven has been linked to the availability of cheap gas and a sharp increase in traffic deaths. Pedestrians and bicyclists already account for more than one in four traffic deaths in New York and New Jersey, and 15% in Connecticut. In New Jersey alone, traffic deaths surged 12% during the first half of 2016. The number of bicyclists killed in New York City so far in 2016 has already exceeded the total number of fatalities in 2015. http://bit.ly/2cnLoqX

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.