American highways and byways are dangerous and have been for a long time. From 1977 to 1990, more than 40,000 people died in traffic accidents in all but four years, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. Since then, the number of fatalities dipped to 30,000 between 2010 and 2015, but then climbed back up, reaching nearly 40,000 in 2021.
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