US Traffic Deaths, Once in Decline, Continue to Rise in 2022

Pedestrians cross Delancey Street as congested traffic from Brooklyn enters Manhattan over the Williamsburg Bridge in New York on March 28, 2019. Mary Altaffer/AP Photo

DETROIT—U.S. traffic fatalities began to climb two years ago and that deadly trend is continuing in 2022.

Roadway deaths rose 7 percent during the first three months of the year to 9,560 people, the highest number for a first quarter in two decades, according to estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.