Motor vehicle deaths in the United States increased 5% last year, the first annual increase since 2005, the National Safety Council said in a preliminary analysis it released Tuesday.
NSC estimated that 36,200 people died in vehicle crashes in 2012, up from 34,600 deaths the year before. The number of vehicle injuries requiring medical consultation also increased 5%, to 3.9 million, while the rate of vehicle deaths grew to 1.23 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, a 4% increase, NSC said.
NSC, which is not a government agency, surmised in a Tuesday statement that the increase could be partly due to improving economic conditions and increased travel.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s most recent report on traffic deaths found that 32,367 people died in 2011 traffic deaths, a 1.9% decrease from 2010, while truck-involved fatalities increased 1.9% to 3,757.
NHTSA released its 2011 figures in December 2012 but has not released last year’s data.
NSC includes both nontraffic and traffic deaths involving motor vehicles, as long as the person died within a year after an incident, as reported by states, the group said. NHTSA only counts traffic deaths that occurred within 30 days of the crash.
NSC does not specify how many of the deaths involved trucks, spokeswoman Susan Evangelou said.
