WASHINGTON, D.C. — Traffic fatalities in the first half of 2024 fell 3.2%, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Thursday. 

It was the ninth straight quarter of declines for roadways deaths, according to the agency’s early estimate.

“Reversing the rise in roadway deaths has been a top priority for this Department, so we’re encouraged to see continued reductions in traffic fatalities — yet the overall proportions of this issue remain at crisis levels and there is much more work to do,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. 

NHTSA estimates that 18,720 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the first half of 2024. The reduction in deaths comes even as drivers logged more miles. According to the Federal Highway Administration, vehicle miles traveled in the first half of 2024 were up about 0.8%. 

The reversal in roadway deaths follows the highest increase in traffic fatalities ever recorded in the second quarter of 2021 during the COVID pandemic when less traffic prompted more drivers to speed. About a third of traffic deaths are speed-related, according to NHTSA.

The decline in fatalities in the first half of 2024 was inconsistent across the U.S., falling in 31 states and Puerto Rico but increasing in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Rhode Island saw the largest decline in roadways deaths (-53.8%), followed by Wyoming (-25.8%), Iowa (-20%), Delaware (-17.9%) and Kansas (-15%). 

Maine (+71.1%) saw the largest increase in roadway deaths, followed by Minnesota (+32.7%), Nebraska (+32.6%), New Jersey (+22.9%) and Nevada (+18.5%). 

Traffic fatalities were unchanged in Hawaii.