The year 2025 recorded the second-lowest traffic fatality rate on U.S. roads in recorded history, the Department of Transportation announced Aug. 5, releasing the milestone alongside a new national strategy to continue reducing road deaths.
The data measures fatalities per vehicle miles traveled, the standard metric for assessing road safety risk, DOT said. The announcement is notable given that overall vehicle miles traveled have returned to pre-pandemic levels, meaning fewer people are dying per mile driven even as total driving has increased.
Road fatalities remain a leading cause of unintentional death in the United States, killing more than 40,000 people annually despite decades of safety improvements. The near-record rate represents continued progress but underscores that tens of thousands of preventable deaths still occur each year.
Transportation safety officials have credited a combination of advanced vehicle safety technology, infrastructure improvements, and impaired driving enforcement with the declining trend. Features such as automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, and electronic stability control have become increasingly standard in the U.S. vehicle fleet.
The new national strategy released alongside the data outlines priorities for further reducing fatalities, though specific policy measures were not detailed in the announcement.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracks road fatality data using reports from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The fatality rate has generally declined over the past several decades, with a notable spike during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 when riskier driving behavior offset reduced traffic volumes.
The record-lowest fatality rate in U.S. history was set prior to the pandemic period.