The U.S. traffic fatality rate fell to an estimated 0.99 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles during the first quarter of 2026, the second-lowest first-quarter rate in the federal series, according to preliminary highway-safety data.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated 7,770 deaths from January through March, down 4.3% from the same period in 2025. The record first-quarter rate was 0.98, set 15 years earlier.
The decline occurred while Americans drove about 11 billion more miles than a year earlier. A rate accounts for exposure by comparing deaths with total travel, while the count records the estimated number of people killed.
NHTSA estimated that 30 states and Puerto Rico had fewer traffic deaths in the quarter. State estimates can be volatile, especially over three months, and later data may revise both individual jurisdictions and the national total.
The agency released the estimate alongside a speeding-safety campaign. Separate preliminary data put speeding-related deaths at 10,035 in 2025, an 11% decline from 2024.
In the final 2024 data, speeding was recorded for 29% of traffic fatalities. Drivers speeding in fatal crashes were more likely than non-speeding drivers to be unbelted or have a blood-alcohol concentration of at least 0.08.
Those associations do not make the first-quarter decline attributable to one campaign or behavior. Traffic deaths respond to many factors, including travel patterns, vehicle safety, enforcement, weather, road design, impairment and emergency response.
Early estimates use incomplete state crash information and statistical methods before final Fatality Analysis Reporting System records are available. NHTSA labels them preliminary for that reason.
The defensible conclusion is that both the estimated count and exposure-adjusted rate improved in early 2026. Whether that becomes a sustained annual trend will depend on subsequent quarters and finalized crash records.