LOS ANGELES – Chris Edwards and friends were waiting at home for his wife, Erica “Tilly” Edwards, to go out to dinner, but she never returned to the house they bought just four days ago. Around 9:00 pm on June 29, a hit-and-run driver killed Tilly as she walked to her car after a fund-raising appearance in Hollywood.
“I just have to figure out how to move on with my life. And the hardest part is not knowing why,” Edwards said of his wife's death.
Despite local, state and federal security campaigns such as the global Vision Zero initiatives to reduce traffic deaths, the number of such deaths in the US has increased by 20% compared to a decade ago, from 32,744 in 2014 to an estimated 39,345 in 2024This is according to data from the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Although road traffic deaths have declined since peaking at 43,230 in 2021, the number of deaths remains higher than a decade ago.
The Pew Research Center found that Americans' driving habits have worsened in many ways since the Covid-19 pandemic, from… reckless driving or drunk drivingwhat traffic safety advocates call a public health failure. They say the technology could significantly reduce road deaths, but proposals often face industry resistance, and the Trump administration is focusing on self-driving cars both for innovation and to improve public safety.
“Every day, 20 people go out and don't come home,” said Adam Snyder, a spokesman for the Governor's Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety agencies.
In some cities, American roads have become more dangerous than violent crime: Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston are among the largest cities that now report more traffic deaths than homicides. In 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department reported 268 homicides and 302 traffic deaths. second year in a row According to Crosstown LA, a nonprofit public news outlet, the number of people killed in the clashes has exceeded the number of victims of homicide.
San Francisco reported more than 40 deaths due to road accidents And 35 kills in 2024. In Houston approximately 345 people died in accidents and 322 from murder.
“Simply put, the United States is in the middle of a highway safety emergency,” David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing. this summer. Of 29 high-income countries, America ranks last in road safety, Harkey said. “This surge is not – I repeat, is not – a global trend. The US is an exception.”
In January 2017 then-Mayor Eric Garcetti joined 13 other Los Angeles city leaders in pledging to implement Vision Zero Action Plan and eliminate road deaths in the city by 2025.
Instead of death increased.
Audit published in April, commissioned by the city, found that enthusiasm for the program had waned at City Hall and that it had suffered due to “the pandemic, personal conflicts, lack of full commitment to implementation, disagreements over how the program should be managed, and scaling issues.” The report also cites competing interests among city departments and inconsistent investments in the city's most dangerous transportation corridors.
Mayor Karen Bass's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last year, California State Senator Scott Wiener proposed check it would require new cars sold in the state to be equipped with “intelligent speed assist,” software that could prevent vehicles from speeding more than 10 mph. But the bill was diluted after pushback from the auto industry and opposition from some lawmakers who called it an abuse of power. It was ultimately vetoed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state's mandate would violate current federal safety assessments.
Meanwhile, the Automotive Innovation Alliance, an influential auto lobby, this year sued the federal government due to the automatic emergency braking rule adopted under the Biden administration. The lawsuit is pending in federal court while the Department of Transportation completes its review. Even before Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term, the alliance reached out to the president-elect. in a letter to support consumer choice.
Under Trump, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has prioritized the development of autonomous vehicles, proposing sweeping legislative changes to test and deploy self-driving cars. “Federal motor vehicle safety standards were written for vehicles with human drivers, and they need to be updated for autonomous vehicles,” NHTSA General Counsel Peter Simshauser said in September, announcing the modernization effortswhich includes the lifting of some safety regulations. “Removing these requirements will reduce costs and improve safety.”
However, some Democratic lawmakers have criticized the administration's rollback of the safety rules as misguided because new rules could be implemented without eliminating existing safeguards. NHTSA officials did not respond to requests for comment on Democrats' concerns.
Advocates are concerned that without further road safety regulations for conventional vehicles, factors such as excessive speed and human error will continue to cause deaths, despite the push toward self-driving cars.
“We need to continue to work closely with the federal sector, the state sector, the local sector, the public sector, the private sector and the everyday public,” said Snyder of the Governor's Highway Safety Association. “We need regular drivers to get involved.”
Chris Edwards points to photographs of his wife Tilly. Traffic deaths in the United States are higher than they were a decade ago. (Chacido Giles/KFF Health News)
Edwards holds a note from a jar of origami hearts, a Valentine's Day gift from Tilly after the couple got engaged seven years ago. He has yet to open all the hearts that hold memories, poems, films and quotes. Instead, he puts some money aside in case he needs it. (Chacido Giles/KFF Health News)
It took police nearly a month to track down the driver of the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen allegedly involved in Tilley's death. Authorities charged Davontay Robins with gross negligence vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run driving and driving with a suspended license due to a previous DUI. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on bail.
Chris Edwards now tends the couple's backyard garden himself. Since the death of his wife, he suffers from lack of sleep, fatigue and problems with eating, so he relies on a cane to walk. Doctors attribute his ailments to the brain's reaction to grief.
“I'm not alone,” he said. “But I feel lonely in this big, empty house without my partner.”
Edwards hopes for justice for his wife, although he says he is unsure whether prosecutors will secure a guilty verdict. He wants her death to mean something: safer streets, slower driving and for pedestrians to be careful when entering and exiting cars parked on busy streets.
“I want my wife's death to be a warning to those who get too comfortable and let their guard down even for a moment,” he said. “This moment is all it takes.”
