Listen: Nation’s Capital Cuts Traffic Deaths as Rates Rise Across US

LISTEN: Distracted. Reckless. Drunk. Americans’ driving has gotten more dangerous since the covid pandemic. Chaseedaw Giles appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” on Nov. 26 to share her reporting on that deadly trend.

Traffic deaths have climbed nationwide over the past decade. In some major cities, traffic deaths have surpassed homicides. But this year, Washington, D.C., has recorded a significant drop in these kinds of deaths. Chaseedaw Giles, audience engagement editor with KFF Health News, appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” on Nov. 26 to share her reporting on the ways design and better enforcement can contribute to safer streets.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Listen: Nation’s Capital Cuts Traffic Deaths as Rates Rise Across US</h1>
<div>	<span class="byline">Chaseedaw Giles</span>
		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2025-12-03T05:00:00-05:00">
			December 3, 2025		</time>
		</div>
<p>LISTEN: Distracted. Reckless. Drunk. Americans’ driving has gotten <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/11/20/what-the-data-says-about-dangerous-driving-and-road-rage-in-the-us/">more dangerous</a> since the covid pandemic. Chaseedaw Giles appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” on Nov. 26 to share her reporting on that deadly trend.</p>	<p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/traffic-deaths-pedestrian-safety-vision-zero-los-angeles-dot-nhtsa/">Traffic deaths have climbed nationwide</a> over the past decade. In some major cities, traffic deaths have <a href="https://xtown.la/2025/01/27/traffic-deaths-in-los-angeles-exceed-murder-total-for-second-consecutive-year/">surpassed homicides</a>. But this year, Washington, D.C., has recorded a <a href="https://mpdc.dc.gov/page/traffic-data">significant drop</a> in these kinds of deaths. Chaseedaw Giles, audience engagement editor with KFF Health News, appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” on Nov. 26 to share her reporting on the ways design and better enforcement can contribute to safer streets.</p><p /><ul><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-washington-dc-traffic-deaths-safety-vision-zero/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-washington-dc-traffic-deaths-safety-vision-zero/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-washington-dc-traffic-deaths-safety-vision-zero/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Listen%3A%20Nation%E2%80%99s%20Capital%20Cuts%20Traffic%20Deaths%20as%20Rates%20Rise%20Across%20US&body=https%3A%2F%2Fkffhealthnews.org%2FMjExOTIzNg&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-washington-dc-traffic-deaths-safety-vision-zero/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-washington-dc-traffic-deaths-safety-vision-zero/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p><p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-washington-dc-traffic-deaths-safety-vision-zero/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org">KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a <a target="_blank" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src="https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"></p>
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