On Monday, the across-the-board spikes prompted an unprecedented “call to action” from the White House, and the Department of Transportation released its annual figures three months earlier than usual in hopes of drawing more attention to the sharp reversal in what had been long-term trends over decades toward safer roads.

“We are in a bad place,” Rosekind (shown below) said last month in San Francisco. “This is a bad situation, and we should be desperate for new tools that will help us save lives.”