(The Center Square) — Nevada was the sixth most dangerous state to drive in 2024, with annual fatalities growing 45% across the last decade, according to a new report.
“Traffic deaths have surged over the past decade, and that should worry all of us,” said Jake Nelson, AAA director of traffic safety advocacy and research.
He noted that national fatality rates had fallen since the COVD-19 pandemic.
“The recent progress is good news, but our roads are still way too dangerous — especially for people walking, biking or on motorcycles,” Nelson said in a news release.
From 2014 to 2024 Nevada traffic fatalities rose 45% to 420. The report, by A National Transportation Research Nonprofit, or TRIP, showed that the U.S. average dropped since the pandemic, but that Nevada was an outlier, becoming slightly more dangerous post-pandemic.
TRIP also reported that Nevada suffered $18.1 billion in economic and quality of life costs from traffic crashes in 2024 alone.
“Cities continue to grapple with several challenges when it comes to implementing the necessary infrastructure upgrades needed to make roads safer in these communities,” AAA Mountain West spokesperson John Treanor told The Center Square. “AAA urges city planners, public health professionals, legislators and traffic safety practitioners to work together to reverse these deadly trends.”
AAA highlighted urban pedestrian deaths along high speed roads as one of the main ways cities should target to improve traffic fatalities.
Pedestrian deaths “have risen by over 80% in the past 15 years after reaching a historic low in 2009,” read the report. “Interestingly, almost the entire increase in pedestrian deaths has occurred on urban arterial roads and after dark.”
On the other hand, the TRIP report said one of the biggest issues in the past decade was the change in traffic patterns that came with the societal change during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than anything else, drivers became more tolerant of risks.
One form of risk tolerance, alcohol-involved crashes, increased 22% nationally from 2019-2023, according to TRIP. Speed-related crashes increased 16% – and represented more than a quarter of fatal crashes.
“After the declaration of the public health emergency in March 2020, driving patterns and behaviors in the United States changed significantly,” wrote the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a 2021 report. “Of the drivers who remained on the roads, some engaged in riskier behavior, including speeding, failure to wear seat belts, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”
Nevada has outpaced the U.S. in population growth over the past 10 years and has some of the highest speed limits in the country.
The Silver State is one of only eight with 80 mph speed limits, on rural highways, and has at or above average speed limits for all other types of roads. Five of the eight states with 80 mph speed limits are among the 20 most fatal traffic states for 2024.
The TRIP report highlighted five ways for states such as Nevada to increase traffic safety.
• Safer people: Encourage safe, responsible behavior through education on speeding, impaired driving, safe pedestrian and bicycling behavior; extension of safety belt laws and enforcement; and enhanced enforcements and penalties for speeding and impaired, aggressive or distracted driving.
• Safer roads: Design roadway environments to mitigate human mistakes, account for injury tolerances, encourage safer behaviors, and facilitate safe travel by the most vulnerable users.
• Safer vehicles: Expand the availability of vehicle systems and features that help to prevent crashes and minimize the impact of crashes on both occupants and non-occupants. Support the development, testing and deployment of connected and autonomous vehicle technology such as collision avoidance, lane departure avoidance systems and turning detection systems.
• Safer speeds: Where appropriate, provide roadway features to encourage safer speeds, including traffic roundabouts and curb extensions; improved signage and dynamic speed signing at high-risk locations; education on the consequences of speeding; and increased speeding enforcement, particularly at high-risk locations.
• Post-crash care: Enhance the survivability of crashes through expedient access to emergency medical care, create a safe working environment for vital first responders by preventing secondary crashes through robust traffic incident management practices, increase access to level one or two trauma centers for seriously injured crash victims.
For the full TRIP report, see tripnet.org and click “Download report.”
