According to the TRIP report, there were 5,758 motorcyclist fatalities in 2025. Although motorcycle travel accounted for just 0.7% of annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the U.S., motorcyclists represented 16% of all traffic fatalities in 2025. In 2024, the fatality rate per 100 million miles of travel for motorcyclists was 36 times higher than that for passenger car occupants (28 versus 0.78). U.S. motorcyclist fatalities increased 2% from 2020 to 2025, from 5,620 to 5,758. The share of motorcyclists not wearing helmets increased from 17% in 2019 to 29% in 2021, then dropped to 18% in 2023.

“Every traffic fatality represents a life lost, a family changed forever, and a reminder that roadway safety demands continued attention and investment. ATSSA applauds TRIP for highlighting both the encouraging progress and the significant challenges that remain,” said Haley Jenkins, chair of the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA). “While four straight years of declining fatalities show that safety improvements are making a difference, more than 36,000 people were killed on our nation’s roads in 2025. Rising pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities further reinforce the need for a comprehensive, coordinated approach to safety. ATSSA appreciates the commitment of transportation agencies and policymakers to reducing roadway deaths and serious injuries. Continued investment in infrastructure, innovation, and proven safety solutions is essential to creating safer roads for all users.”

Traffic crashes result in a significant economic burden. According to a 2023 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report, the tangible economic costs of traffic crashes include medical care, lost productivity, legal and court costs, insurance administrative costs, workplace costs, congestion impacts (travel delays, excess fuel consumption and pollution), emergency services, and property damage. NHTSA has also estimated the annual value of quality-of-life losses resulting from traffic crashes that cause serious injuries or death. These costs include the loss of remaining lifespan, extended or lifelong physical impairment, and physical pain.

Based on NHTSA’s traffic crash cost methodology, TRIP estimates that fatal and serious traffic crashes in 2025 caused a total of $1.75 trillion in societal harm, including $435 billion in economic costs and $1.32 trillion in quality-of-life costs.

“The continued loss of life on our nation’s roadways reminds us that we cannot accept traffic fatalities as an inevitable consequence of mobility. The Safe System approach challenges all of us to take a more comprehensive and proactive approach to safety—one that recognizes human error, anticipates risk and builds layers of protection into our roads, vehicles and transportation system,” said Russell McMurry, president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation. “As transportation leaders, we have a shared responsibility to use data, innovation and every available safety tool to prevent crashes from becoming fatalities and serious injuries. Together, we must remain focused on building a transportation system that helps ensure everyone can reach their destination safely.”

In 2011, U.S. traffic fatalities dropped to 32,749, the lowest level since 1949, when there were 30,246 traffic fatalities. By 2018, U.S. traffic fatalities had increased to 36,835. Beginning in March 2020, when initial restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic were implemented, the number and rate of traffic fatalities began to increase, even as the rate of vehicle travel initially decreased.

The significant increase in traffic fatalities following the onset of the pandemic appears to be largely related to increased risk-taking by drivers. In an October 2021 report, NHTSA found that “after the declaration of the public health emergency in March 2020, driving patterns and behaviors in the United States changed significantly. Of the drivers who remained on the roads, some engaged in riskier behavior, including speeding, failure to wear seat belts, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”

The TRIP report noted that NHTSA data indicate that the number of people killed in alcohol-involved crashes in the U.S. increased 2% from 2020 to 2024, from 11,654 to 11,904.

NHTSA found that the number of unrestrained occupants of passenger vehicles (those not wearing seat belts) killed in the U.S. decreased 21% from 2020 to 2025, from 12,143 to 9,546. The share of adult front-seat occupants wearing seat belts in 2025 was 91.3%, an increase from 90.3% in 2020 but lower than the 2023 rate of 91.9%, the highest rate yet recorded.

NHTSA also found that the number of people killed in speeding-related traffic crashes in the U.S. decreased 11% from 2020 to 2025, representing 26% of U.S. traffic fatalities in 2025.

From 2020 to 2024, the number of fatalities in distraction-affected traffic crashes increased 2%, from 3,154 to 3,208.

“The continued decline in traffic deaths is encouraging, and the return toward pre-pandemic levels marks real progress,” said Jake Nelson, director of Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research at AAA. “But improvement is not the same as success. Too many people are still dying on our roads, and traffic deaths remain higher than they were a decade ago. We need to build on this momentum with proven strategies that make every trip safer for every road user.”

The safe and efficient movement of vehicles through roadway work zones is a critical priority for transportation officials, the highway construction industry, police agencies, commercial motor carriers and the public. The TRIP report found that from 2020 to 2024, crashes in U.S. highway work zones resulted in 4,481 fatalities, with annual fatalities decreasing slightly from 863 in 2020 to 850 in 2024.

To combat the increase in fatalities, the U.S. Department of Transportation adopted a comprehensive National Roadway Safety Strategy in early 2022. The strategy provides a roadmap for addressing the nation’s roadway safety crisis through a Safe System approach, which is also being adopted by state and local transportation agencies. The objectives and elements of the approach include the following:

Safer People: Encourage safe, responsible behavior through education on speeding, impaired driving, and safe pedestrian and bicycling behavior; expand seat belt laws and enforcement; and strengthen enforcement and penalties for speeding and impaired, aggressive or distracted driving.

Safer Roads: Design roadway environments to mitigate human mistakes, account for injury tolerances, encourage safer behaviors, and facilitate safe travel by the most vulnerable users.

Safer Vehicles: Expand the availability of vehicle systems and features that help prevent crashes and minimize their impact on occupants and non-occupants. Support the development, testing and deployment of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies, such as collision avoidance, lane departure avoidance systems and turning detection systems.

Safer Speeds: Where appropriate, provide roadway features that encourage safer speeds, including traffic roundabouts and curb extensions; improve signage and install dynamic speed signs at high-risk locations; educate the public on the consequences of speeding; and increase speeding enforcement, particularly at high-risk locations.

Post-Crash Care: Enhance crash survivability through prompt access to emergency medical care. Create a safe working environment for first responders by preventing secondary crashes through robust traffic incident management practices, and increase access to Level I or Level II trauma centers for seriously injured crash victims.

Consistent with the Safe System approach, safety in highway work zones can be improved by implementing a comprehensive strategy that includes ensuring proper work zone layouts; prioritizing work zone safety training; ensuring the use of high-visibility safety apparel and appropriate traffic control devices; creating an internal traffic control plan; and implementing strategies to reduce aggressive driving.

Increased investment in roadway safety improvements is likely to pay off through a reduction in fatal and serious traffic crashes. According to a 2017 report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS), the U.S. has a $146 billion backlog of needed roadway safety improvements. The report found that implementing cost-effective, needed roadway safety improvements on U.S. roads would save approximately 63,700 lives and reduce serious traffic crash injuries by approximately 350,000 over a 20-year period.

Additional funding for roadway safety improvements has been provided by the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which was signed into law in November 2021. The law provided a significant boost in federal investment in roads, bridges and transit, offering an opportunity for the nation to improve the safety, reliability and condition of America’s transportation system. The IIJA provides $454 billion over the five-year period from 2022 to 2026 for investment in highways and transit, resulting in a 38% increase in federal investment beginning in 2022. The IIJA was set to expire Sept. 30, 2026, but has been extended through Dec. 11, 2026.

“While it is good news that the number of traffic fatalities has been trending downward in recent years, the nation continues to face a traffic safety crisis, with nearly a quarter million Americans killed since 2020,” said Dave Kearby, TRIP’s executive director. “Making a commitment to eliminating fatal and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways will require robust investment and coordinated activities by transportation and safety-related agencies to provide the necessary layers of protection for the nation’s motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists, including safe road users, safe roads, safe vehicles, safe speeds and high-quality post-crash care.”