U.S. traffic deaths hit 20-year-high in early 2022

U.S. traffic deaths jumped about 7% in the first three months of 2022 to 9,560, hitting the highest number killed on American roads in the quarterly period since 2002, regulators said on Wednesday in a preliminary estimate.

Traffic deaths have been rising sharply since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said. In 2021, U.S. traffic deaths jumped 10.5% in 2021 to 42,915 - the highest number killed on American roads in a single-year since 2005.