Traffic deaths in California showed their first sign of declining from the boom that accompanied COVID, according to a new federal study, but 10 people a day still died in traffic collisions in the state.
Projections and statistics from federal traffic safety officials found that 944 people died in traffic collisions in California during the first three months of 2022 compared to 1,018 during the prior year.
The 7.3% decline in the state was good news, particularly since the number of traffic deaths nationwide increased.
Tim Weisberg, a spokesman for the state Office of Traffic Safety, said the figures in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report were encouraging, particularly after traffic deaths increased sharply, despite reduced traffic, during the first two years of the COVID crisis.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” he said. “But realistically, typically and unfortunately, going into the summer months you see more traffic deaths.”
According to the study, an estimated 9,560 people were killed in crashes in the 50 states and Washington D.C. during January through March, continuing a trend of increasing traffic deaths that started in 2020.
“There is no doubt we are experiencing a crisis on our roads,” said Barbara Rooney, director of the state traffic safety office. “The early estimates from NHTSA show a surge in roadway deaths throughout the country during the first three months of the year – the likes of which we have not seen in two decades.”
The state intends to focus on changing driver behavioral, increase enforcement of speeding, impaired driving and failure to wear seatbelts as well as working to design safer roads with lower speeds, Weisberg said.
“The goal is zero deaths, and we will not stop working toward that goal until we reach a point where zero deaths are a permanent way of life,” Rooney said.
Traffic deaths soared in California — and across the U.S. — as drivers increased their speeds with less traffic on the streets and highways after the pandemic shutdown. That behavior continued as traffic started to return, Weisberg said, and still remains a problem.
In 2021, traffic deaths surged for the second straight year, according to the federal traffic safety agency, with 4,258 people dying — an increase of 10.7% over 2020.
Michael Cabanatuan (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
Read More:California traffic deaths down — but 10 people a day died in collisions
