The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released traffic accident data for the first quarter of 2025. The agency estimates that it was the 12th consecutive quarterly decline in accident fatalities.
About 8,055 people died in traffic accidents during the first three months of 2025, the NHTSA says, which is down approximately 6.3% from 8,595 deaths during the first quarter of 2024.
“While traffic fatalities remain far too high, we are encouraged to see such a decline and pledge to continue working to drive down these numbers even more,” says the agency’s chief counsel, Peter Simshauser. “NHTSA will continue to use all of its resources to educate Americans about dangerous driving behaviors and advance meaningful policies that will save lives. The agency is also strengthening its relationships with law enforcement to ensure traffic laws are being enforced to save lives.”
According to NHTSA data, 39,345 people died in traffic accidents in 2024, down 3.8% from 40,901 in 2023. Based on the agency’s data for the regions of the United States, all regions’ first quarter 2025 traffic deaths decreased from the same quarter last year, except for one. Traffic fatalities increased 3% in the region that contains Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas.
