Gov. Beshear Announces Decline in Highway Fatalities in 2024
Road fatalities fall to lowest in a decade, down 107 compared with 2023
FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 8, 2025) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that highway fatalities in Kentucky decreased in 2024 to 707 deaths – down 107 compared with 2023. This marks the lowest number of highway fatalities in the last 10 years.
The Governor said the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) continues education, engineering and enforcement campaigns aimed at enhancing highway safety.
“These numbers mean fewer families have had to deal with such a painful loss, and it’s welcome news,” said Gov. Beshear. “By working together, we can ensure everyone traveling on Kentucky’s roadways makes it home safely. Let’s keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies – like buckling up, driving distraction-free and slowing down.”
Team Kentucky encourages all travelers – including motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians – to stay alert and make safe choices on Kentucky roadways. Whether it’s driving sober, crossing at designated crosswalks or wearing reflective gear while biking or walking, small actions can save lives.
Since nearly half of all reported motor vehicle fatalities in Kentucky involve unbelted drivers or passengers, Kentuckians are urged to buckle up – every trip, every time. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), you cut your risk of a fatal injury in a crash nearly in half by buckling up.
“We’re asking motorists and passengers to commit to safe driving behaviors when behind the wheel, such as buckling up, putting the phone down, obeying the speed limit and driving sober,” said KYTC Secretary Jim Gray. “This helps keep our roadways safe, not only for those in vehicles, but for all road users, such as pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists.”
According to KYTC’s Office of Highway Safety and Kentucky State Police (KSP), of the 707 fatalities, 47% of vehicle occupants were not wearing a seat belt and 19% involved alcohol. Approximately 33% involved speeding or aggressive drivers, and 22% involved driver distraction. Pedestrians and bicyclists accounted for 110 deaths and motorcyclists accounted for 96.
“One of the hardest tasks for law enforcement is notifying a family that their loved one has been in a fatal crash. So, if we can potentially save a life by enforcing traffic laws, we’ll do it,” said KSP Major Eric Walker. “At the end of the day, it’s not about writing tickets; it’s about ensuring everyone makes it home safely.”
According to NHTSA, wearing a seat belt gives motorists the best chance of preventing injury or death if involved in a crash. Properly fastened seat belts contact the strongest parts of the body, such as the chest, hips and shoulders. A seat belt spreads the force of a crash over a wide area of the body, putting less stress on any one part, and allows the body to slow down with the crash, extending the time when the crash forces are felt by the occupant.
So far in 2025, preliminary numbers indicate 182 roadway deaths, down 17.27% compared with the same time last year.
In addition to encouraging safe driving behaviors, KYTC is committed to enhancing safety for all users through infrastructure projects and programs aimed at reducing deaths and serious injuries on our highways, roads and streets.
A wrong-way driving prevention project launched last year will bring technology to interstates in central Kentucky to detect and deter wrong-way driving in urban areas where it’s more likely to occur.
Additionally, KYTC has introduced safer road solutions by implementing roundabouts, Restricted Crossing U-Turns and other safety-focused designs in many areas across Kentucky to reduce the number of conflict points at intersections and reduce the risk of crashes.
Restricted Crossing U-Turns have transformed highway safety for areas such as the intersection of U.S. Highway 68 and Kentucky Highway 139 in Trigg County, where crashes declined by 64.5% over the last four years – a greater reduction than the nationwide 54% average for the design – and where fatalities decreased to zero.
Among similar efforts across Kentucky this year, work is underway on a $12.75 million Restricted Crossing U-Turns project along the high-traffic Richmond Road and Athens Boonesboro Road corridor in Fayette County that’s expected to reduce the number of crashes there and improve traffic flow.
To further enhance road safety, education efforts such as the Kentucky Safe Teen Driving Challenge aims to reduce teen driving crashes by promoting safer driving habits. Using an app that tracks behaviors such as speed, braking and phone distraction, participants receive feedback after each trip to help them improve their skills. Ultimately, the challenge helps ensure safer roads by equipping teens with the tools they need to become more cautious and aware drivers.
In January, the Governor announced the preliminary numbers which showed Kentucky was making major progress in reducing roadway fatalities.
Today’s news builds on the work Team Kentucky is doing to increase public safety and protect Kentuckians.
Last week, the Governor announced that overdose deaths in the commonwealth decreased for the third year in a row, with a 30.2% decrease in 2024 compared with the previous year.
The Governor also announced that Kentucky secured another low recidivism rate. Nearly 70% of people released from state custody over the past two years have not been re-incarcerated.
The 2023 Crime in Kentucky report, released in July of last year, indicates crime rates have remained stable with a decline in offenses for homicide, burglary, robbery, sex offenses, kidnapping and gambling. For the last three consecutive years, homicide rates have been declining.
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For official news and updates from the Beshear/Coleman administration, visit governor.ky.gov/news.
Gov. Beshear: Disaster Unemployment Assistance Available for Those in 13 Counties Impacted by Severe Storms in April
Kentuckians in counties that received federal approval for individual assistance may be eligible
FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 5, 2025) – Gov. Andy Beshear announced today that the state will accept applications for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) from individuals in 13 counties who are out of work as a result of severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, flooding, landslides and mudslides that began in Kentucky on April 2, 2025, and continuing.
On April 24, 2025, President Donald Trump approved Gov. Beshear’s request for a major disaster declaration for Kentucky in response to April’s devastating severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, flooding, landslides and mudslides, which includes individual assistance for Kentuckians in Anderson, Butler, Carroll, Christian, Clark, Franklin, Hardin, Hopkins, Jessamine, McCracken, Mercer, Owen and Woodford counties.
The Governor will request that additional designations and counties be added to the declaration through an amendment as ongoing assessments are completed.
Individuals – including unemployed and self-employed individuals who were living or working in the affected areas and became unemployed or had work interrupted as a direct result the flooding that occurred in Kentucky beginning on April 2, 2025, and continue – are eligible to apply for DUA benefits through the Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance.
DUA is available to individuals who:
- Worked or were self-employed, or were scheduled to begin work
- Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to their place of employment as a direct result of a disaster, which can also include the physical inaccessibility of the place of employment due to its closure by the federal, state or local government in immediate response to the disaster;
- Establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their primary source of income;
- Do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits from any state;
- Cannot work or resume self-employment because of an injury as a direct result of the disaster; or
- As a result of the disaster, became the breadwinner or major supporter of a household because of the death of the head of the household.
In order to qualify for DUA benefits, claimants in eligible counties must show that their employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted as a direct result of the disaster and that they are not otherwise eligible for regular unemployment insurance benefits under state or federal law. Farmers and other self-employed individuals who traditionally are ineligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits may qualify for DUA.
To receive DUA benefits, the federal program requires individuals to provide documents, including a copy of their most recent federal or state income tax forms or check stubs, a bill showing their physical address at the time of the disaster and a photo ID. All required documentation must be submitted within 21 days from the date the individual’s DUA application is filed.
DUA is available for up to 29 weeks of unemployment beginning April 6, 2025, until October 25, 2025, as long as the individual’s unemployment continues to be a direct result of the disaster.
How To File a Claim
Affected individuals should visit the Kentucky Career Center website at kcc.ky.gov or call 502-564-2900 to file their initial claim. The deadline to apply for assistance is June 23, 2025.
Updated information will be communicated on the Kentucky Career Center website and through future press releases with detailed information. DUA is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and benefits are not charged to employers.
Following the storms, the Governor urged local officials to start the federal Individual Assistance and Public Assistance damage assessments and asked Kentuckians who experienced storm damage to take photographs to document damages before cleaning up and to report those losses to their local emergency management officials.
Gov. Beshear also activated the State Emergency Operations Center and activated the state’s price gouging laws to protect Kentuckians from overpriced goods and services as they cleaned up from the severe weather.
Last week, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that he has sent two additional requests to FEMA seeking aid for families and communities affected by April’s floods.
First, the Governor is requesting families in 16 more counties receive Individual Assistance to help them recover. On April 25, the Governor announced that President Donald Trump had approved part of his April 11 request for a Major Disaster Declaration, which included Individual Assistance for Kentuckians in 13 of the counties affected by the most recent flooding.
Second, the Governor is now requesting Public Assistance for 64 counties in which FEMA has validated damages. The Governor also renewed his request for approval for hazard mitigation for the entire state.
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