The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration attributed the 2.4% drop partially to technology in newer vehicles that can prevent crashes. A total of 36,560 people died on the nation’s roads last year, the latest full-year statistics available.
The agency said the downward trend is continuing into 2019. First-half estimates show fatalities down 3.4%.
“This is encouraging news, but still far too many perished or were injured, and nearly all crashes are preventable, so much more work remains to be done to make America’s roads safer for everyone,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, whose department oversees NHTSA, said in a statement.
The overall decline in 2017 and 2018 came after two years of large increases blamed on people driving more as the economy improved.
But pedestrian deaths rose 3.4%, and the number of people killed on bicycles and other pedaled vehicles went up 6.3%. People killed in large-truck crashes rose just under 1%.
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