Thanks to advances in safety, auto accidents have trended downward for decades. Road fatalities steadily declined, too. There were more than 50,000 annually in the early 70s and just over 30,000 in recent years.  For 45 years, the U.S. death toll had been going in the right direction.  However, we hit a major roadblock in 2015 when the number of people lost in crashes jumped 7.2% from 2014, the most significant increase in 50 years. More than 44,000 Americans died in traffic crashes in 2023, which was a 13% increase from 2019 until now. Experts are looking for answers as to why, whe

The bad news? Traffic fatalities in Arizona rose for the third straight year in 2022 according to the Arizona Motor Vehicle Crash Facts report.  There were 1,294 traffic fatalities across the state (pedestrian, bicyclist and motorcyclist deaths all increased last year), which is the second-highest total ever recorded in Arizona.  What has caused the number of traffic fatalities to go up every year since 2019? The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) says, “Figures show crashes associated with inappropriate speed and speeding accounted for a greater share of deaths and injuries