Traffic deaths up 5% in 2012

Traffic deaths up 5% in 2012

Traffic fatalities rose five percent last year, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That would mark the first year-to-year increase since 2005. Traffic deaths fell about 26 percent from 2005 to 2011.

As with traffic congestion, analysts say the increase in traffic deaths means more people are driving, which is a sign of increased economy activity. With the improving economy and historically low levels of motor vehicle deaths in recent years, we expected deaths to increase, said the Governors Highway Safety Association. (Vehicle miles traveled increased nine billion miles, about 0.3 percent.) Even with the projected increase in traffic deaths, they are dramatically lower than five or ten years ago, the group said.

The region that includes Maryland, DC and Virginia, plus Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia, saw a four percent rise in traffic deaths.