Washington may have finally turned a corner in the fight against its rising death toll from car accidents, according to a new estimate from the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission .

After holding steady across the mid-2010s, the number of traffic deaths in Washington increased each year between 2019 and 2023.

The annual increases weren’t small either. Traffic deaths rose from 538 in 2019 to 809 in 2023, a 50.6% increase. That marked the state’s highest single-year total in 33 years , according to WTSC.

But in 2024, car crash deaths fell for the first time in five years, according to WTSC’s preliminary findings.

WA car crash deaths drop for first time since 2019

The commission estimates that 731 people died in car crashes across Washington last year, a 9.6% decrease from th

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