After years of grim numbers, traffic fatalities in the U.S. are declining meaningfully. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 39,345 traffic deaths in 2024, a 3.8 percent drop from 2023 and the first time the number has fallen below 40,000 since 2020. In the first half of 2025, fatalities dropped another 8.2 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, reaching the lowest mid-year fatality rate per miles driven since 2014. The improvement is happening even as Americans are driving more miles. It is, for once, genuinely good news on the road.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
