Alabama traffic deaths increased to nearly 1,000 in 2022, a 6 percent rise from pre-pandemic 2019 blamed largely on drivers taking “increased risks,” a new report says.

Those risks include “distracted driving, failure to wear seat belts and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs,” the nonprofit traffic research organization TRIP said in a report released today at tripnet.org. Research also showed distraction by cell phones as another significant risk.

In the Birmingham area, there were 131 fatal roadway injuries in 2022, according to data from the Alabama Critical Analysis Reporting Environment’s (CARE) Birmingham Highway Patrol post. This represents a fatality drop of around 9% from the 144 fatal roadway injuries that occurred in 2020 during the pandemic even though overall crash numbers saw a jump from just above 33,000 to above 36,000 in that time.

2021 had the highest number of metro area crashes over the last three years with nearly 39,000 recorded by the Birmingham Highway Patrol post that year but fatalities still remained lower than 2020 with 130 recorded.

This trend was mirrored in the larger Jefferson County area as well, with fatal roadway injuries steadily decreasing between 2020 and 2022 according to CARE data.