Traffic deaths fell 4.3% last year in Michigan, a slightly bigger drop than the national average, according to data released Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Deaths nationally were down 3.8%, despite a 1% increase in vehicle miles, but remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels. More than 39,000 people were killed in vehicle crashes last year, including an estimated 1,047 in Michigan.

“It’s encouraging to see that traffic fatalities are continuing to fall from their COVID pandemic highs. Total road fatalities, however, remain significantly higher than a decade ago, and America’s traffic fatality rate remains high relative to many peer nations,” NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser said in a statement.

Nationally, there were about 1,500 fewer traffic deaths in 2024 than the year prior. However, traffic deaths were still 6.6% higher than in 2019, according to the NHTSA data. In Michigan, deaths in 2024 were 6.3% higher than 2019 levels.

The data — for the third year in a row — paint an improving but still grim picture as distracted driving and other risky behaviors continue to endanger drivers, passengers and pedestrians nationwide. Congressionally-mandated rules around drunken driving, handheld phone bans and advancements in autonomous vehicle technology promise to bring more transformative change to America’s roads, but major progress has been elusive.

“To reduce fatalities further,” Simshauser said, the U.S. Department of Transportation “is working closely to partner with the law enforcement community to enhance traffic enforcement on our roads, including speeding, impairment, distraction, and lack of seatbelt use.”

Michigan, on a per-mile-driven basis, was safer in 2024 than the national average. The state had 1.07 deaths per 100 vehicle miles driven last year, which was tied for 15th best. Massachusetts had the lowest rate at 0.62.

New Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during confirmation proceedings that safety would be his top priority as leader of the sprawling department.

His wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, was involved in a 1996 car crash that killed her boyfriend and another passenger when a driver asleep at the wheel hit her vehicle head-on. Secretary Duffy described that as an experience that “has profoundly reshaped her life.”

NHTSA data suggest that distraction-affected crashes are responsible for 8% of all traffic fatalities. That percentage has remained steady since 2018, though officials have said the actual number is likely higher because it is often difficult to determine whether distraction was a factor in a crash.

Michigan adopted a distracted driving law in June 2023 that could be helping the state’s modest decline in roadway deaths. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has dedicated April as Distracted Driving Awareness Month, as has NHTSA.

“When you’re driving, just drive,” the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning said in a Monday Facebook post. “Don’t text, call, eat, drink, fix your makeup, or comb your hair. Keep your eyes on the road and stay safe. Go hands-free. It’s the law.”