PROVIDENCE – The number of people killed in traffic accidents on Rhode Island roadways fell 6% year over year in 2021, according to data released Monday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Sixty-three Rhode Island motorists died in 2021, compared with 67 in 2020. Of the 63 fatalities, 24 were a result of alcohol-impaired driving in 2021, compared with 28 in 2020, a 14% decrease year over year, according to the agency’s report.
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There were 42,939 traffic fatalities on U.S. roadways in 2021, compared with 39,007 in 2020, representing a 10% increase year over year. The 42,939 figure is the highest number of U.S. traffic fatalities since 2005, with deaths due to speeding and impaired or distracted driving on the rise. And the 10% increase in traffic fatalities from 2020 to 2021 is the largest year-over-year percentage increase since the agency’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System started tracking data in 1975.
Data shows a 12% increase year over year in fatal crashes involving at least one distracted driver, with 3,522 people killed in that manner in 2021, representing about 8% of total traffic fatalities that year. This prompted the NHTSA to launch a $5 million advertising campaign to keep drivers focused on the road. Agency officials said such cases are likely underreported by police.
From 2020 to 2021, the number of pedestrians killed on U.S. roads rose 13%, while pedalcyclist fatalities went up 2%, the number of unbelted passengers who were killed rose 8%, fatalities involving alcohol-impaired driving went up 14%, speeding-related deaths increased by 7.9% and crash deaths involving large trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds went up 17%.
In Rhode Island, there wasn’t much change among motorcyclist fatalities, with 13 motorcycle deaths in 2021, compared with 12 in 2020. However, pedestrian deaths fell 59%, with seven deaths in 2021, compared with 17 in 2020.
Massachusetts saw a 22% increase in traffic deaths from 2020 to 2021. The commonwealth had the most traffic deaths in New England in 2021 with 417 fatalities, compared with 343 in 2020. Rhode Island had the fewest traffic deaths in New England in 2021, followed by Vermont with 74, a 19% increase from 2020. Traffic deaths in New Hampshire rose 13% to 118 from 2020 to 2021, while there were 298 traffic accident deaths in Connecticut in 2021, one fewer than in 2020.
Part of the increase in crash deaths is due to people driving more as the coronavirus pandemic has waned. NHTSA reported that the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled increased 2.2% to 1.37 in 2021.
NHTSA also estimates that 2.5 million people were injured in crashes during 2021, a “statistically significant” increase of 9.4% from 2020, according to the report.
The agency said it will release preliminary 2022 traffic death data in the coming weeks. NHTSA estimates that 31,785 people were killed in crashes from January through September last year, down 0.2% from the same period of 2021.
(Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
