The National Safety Council said Thursday traffic-related fatalities hit 40,100 last year, the second year in a row the 40,000 mark was surpassed.
NHTSA in March will launch a campaign against drug-impaired driving, which it has identified as key to reducing traffic fatalities. “We know that many people switch between use of alcohol and illicit drugs, or consume them together, and we need to consider both,” Heidi King, the agency’s de facto chief, said during the hearing before a House panel.
The figures are troubling when stacked againsttrends in other countries, including Japan, Germany and the U.K. —nations that have been cutting road-fatality rates at a brisker pace than in the U.S.
During the period spanning 2007 to 2015, when the U.S. cut its fatality rate by 20%, many other nations registered more sizeable declines. Sweden, for instance, cut its traffic fatalities in half during the period, while the U.K.’s numbers declined 44%, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.