SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) -The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published crash statistics from 2022, indicating a slight decline in deaths on the road.

Estimates from the NHTSA show the number of fatalities on U.S. Roads fell by about a third of a percent from 2021 to 2022, but, we didn’t exactly start from a good place. The number of people killed in crashes in 2021, was the highest in 16 years.

That point-three-percent drop only decreased the number of deaths by about 150. Now, these preliminary numbers for 2022 are technically estimates, but are typically quite accurate, and will be followed by a detailed report next spring.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is calling it a national crisis and launched a massive grant program to help cities across the country make their roads safer. In all, five-billion dollars in federal funds will be distributed over the next four years in the Safe Streets and Roads for All Program. Last year $800 million was awarded to more than 500 projects in the first round of grants, all of which adapt roads to make them safer for walking, biking, and driving.

Distracted driving was a major factor in 2021, with fatal crashes involving at least one distracted driver, up by 12 percent. The number of pedestrians and cyclists killed both increased and fatal crashes caused by speeding and alcohol impairment, each rose by double digits.