Fewer people died in car crashes in 2017, but the outlook is still grim
The annual report on deadly motor vehicle crashes in the US is usually a pretty depressing read. The last couple years have been especially morbid, with traffic deaths rising at an alarming rate year-over-year. And even though the latest report, released Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, contained a few slivers of optimism — slightly fewer people were killed in 2017 compared to the year prior — there were still enough startling statistics to make the overall picture of public roads in America exceedingly grim.
There were 37,133 people killed in car crashes in 2017, a 1.8 percent decrease from last year’s total. This is notable considering total deaths were up 6.5 percent in 2016, and an alarming 8.4…
