U.S. Traffic Fatalities Fall Following Two Years of Rising Toll

(Bloomberg) -- Deaths on American roads fell by nearly 2 percent last year, blunting two years of increases that had troubled regulators and safety advocates.

A total of 37,133 people died in traffic crashes last year, down 1.8 percent from 2016, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Deaths involving pedestrians, drunk driving, speeding, bicyclists and motorcyclists all declined.

The rate of overall fatalities also declined to 1.16 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, even as Americans drove more. Total vehicle-miles-traveled increased 1.2 percent.

Standing out was a sharp increase in the number of deaths linked to crashes involving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds, which jumped 9 percent.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Ray Martinez told reporters that more analysis is needed to understand the cause of the increase. The figure includes crash deaths involving heavy-duty pickup trucks and other large vehicles in addition to tractor-trailers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Beene in Washington at rbeene@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman

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