Over the years, fatal car accidents have certainly declined on the whole. Since peaking in the 1970s, the most dangerous time to be on the road, things have gotten better.
Every so often, though, there is an increase. This most recently happened around 2015 and 2016. While 2017 leveled off a bit and 2018 did fall, fatalities are still higher than they were in 2010.
In another sense, though, the deaths have been falling the entire time. They continue to do so. If you look at the graph for traffic fatalities per 100,000 people in the country, you’ll see that it was highest in the 1920s and, with some very minor reversals, it has only declined since then. It’s worth noting that they didn’t start tracking these deaths rates until the 1920s, but cars were not as common in the decades before.
This ever-declining rate is, in some ways, very important when considering safety on the roads. Even if there are more overall deaths, the population increases dramatically every year. There is bound to be some increase in totals just due to having more people on the roads. As long as the rate keeps falling, though, it shows that a greater portion of the population is safer.
Of course, some of the falling death rate is also due to better medical care, which can save lives. These individuals could still be badly injured, though, and may be facing some major medical bills. They need to make sure they are well aware of the legal options they have to seek out compensation.