MINNESOTA — Crash deaths in Minnesota fall in 2023 amid a nationwide decline of about 3.6 percent, according to new estimates from federal traffic safety regulators.

Minnesota saw 418 crash deaths last year, according to early estimates of motor vehicle traffic
deaths published this week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

That’s 5.9 percent lower than in 2022, when Minnesota recorded 444 traffic deaths. Minnesota’s traffic death rate decreased from 0.77 in 2022 to 0.71 in 2023, the data showed.

The estimates are statistical projections of traffic deaths, federal regulators said in the report. The data shows an estimated 40,990 people died across the nation in crashes last year, representing a decrease of about 3.6 percent as compared to 42,514 deaths reported in 2022.

The fourth quarter of last year represented the seventh straight quarterly decline in crash deaths, the reports said.

The fatality rate for 2023 also decreased to 1.26 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled. That’s down from a rate of 1.33 in 2022.

The report also highlighted regional differences, with 8 of 10 regions estimated to have seen fewer deaths last year. The two regions that saw increases: the Northwest and a swath of states in the South: Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Kentucky, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Nine of the 10 regions also saw estimated decreases in traffic death rates compared to 2022.

On a state level, 35 states are expected to see fewer crash deaths, while 15 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are expected to have more deaths.

States that saw increases in traffic deaths: Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Washington, D.C. also reported more deaths.

Snapshot Of US Traffic Deaths

U.S. Total

• 2023 Deaths: 40,990
• 2022 Deaths: 42,514
• YOY Percent Change: -3.6%
• 2022 Death Rate: 1.33
• 2023 Death Rate: 1.26

The report noted “marked increases” in crash deaths and rates in the United States in 2020, and said that trend continued into 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Since then, crash deaths have gradually fallen.