Safety takes a U-turn: after a spike in traffic deaths, lawmakers are looking to improve roadway safety.

• Author: Shinkle, Douglas
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

Every day, nearly 100 people die on American roadways. They may be in pickups or Priuses, on Harleys or Treks or even on foot. They're traveling to work, to school or to have some fun when a seemingly mundane activity turns into a tragedy.

Yes, America's roads and highways are significantly safer than they were 50 or even 25 years ago. Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled have declined steadily over the last 40 years. But all that has changed in the last couple of years.

Traffic deaths increased 7.2 percent from 2014 to 2015, the largest percentage increase in almost 50 years. More than 35,000 died, and fatalities were particularly high for motorcyclists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and occupants of SUVs and vans.

What's more, preliminary estimates show an 8 percent increase in traffic-related fatalities in the first nine months of 2016 when compared with 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. July through September 2016 was the eighth consecutive quarter with an increase in fatalities compared with the same period of time in previous years.

This shift is a serious reversal of the progress made toward making our roads safer and reducing fatalities.

Americans are driving more, due to cheap gas and an improving economy, and that alone can lead to more traffic deaths. But why the increase in crashes? Many of the same old problems continue to challenge state policymakers. Excessive speed. Not buckling up. Driving drunk. Being distracted. One thing is clear: Driving impaired, being distracted, speeding and not buckling up result from choices people make, all of which can lead to riskier roads for everyone.

Former NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind frequently noted that 94 percent of traffic crashes result from human error.

That's why the potential autonomous vehicles have to increase safety is the hottest topic in the transportation world at the moment. The hope is that self-driving vehicles may one day reduce, or perhaps nearly eliminate, traffic deaths. But until then, traffic safety laws and programs that states enact and enforce will continue to affect communities and lives nationwide.

State legislatures are not standing idly by. Some are doubling down on such proven strategies as increased monitoring of convicted drunken drivers and stronger penalties for distracted driving.

Here's what states are doing to lower behavior-related traffic deaths by focusing on impaired driving, speeding, distracted...