Authorities investigate a fatal crash on the Jersey City side of the Lincoln Highway Bridge on Feb. 10, 2022. Fatalities in New Jersey rose 13.7% during the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration preliminary data.

After New Jersey reached a 14-year high in traffic fatalities last year, the number of deaths in motor vehicle crashes continued to rise this year, giving more urgency to a federal safety plan to reduce highway deaths.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported Wednesday that preliminary data showed fatalities increasing 13.7% from January to March compared with the same period a year ago.

Nationally, traffic fatalities rose by 7% during the first three months of 2022 to 9,560 from 8,935. The percentage increase in deaths from January to March is the largest in two decades, NHTSA said.

“The overall numbers are still moving in the wrong direction,” NHTSA Administrator Steven Cliff said. “Now is the time for all states to double down on traffic safety.”

Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, called the numbers “an urgent call to action.”

“With each passing day, road users are needlessly in peril,” she said. “Our nation’s leaders can and must make our roads safer for families across the U.S. Time is ticking; people are being killed and injured; no excuses.”

Traffic deaths have on the rise since the coronavirus pandemic, when motorists took advantage of lightly used highways to exceed the speed limit and didn’t slow down even as people began leaving their homes and returning to their cars.

The safety agency also cited the failure to wear seat belts and driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs as contributing to the increase in traffic fatalities.

“It hasn’t changed: We talk about belts, booze and speed. Add distractions,” said Pam Fischer, a former director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Safety. “We’ve got really bad behavior out there. We hoped that with traffic volumes back up, that would slow people down. But clearly that’s not the case. It hasn’t seemed to have an impact.”

New Jersey was one of 30 states to see a rise in traffic death this year compared with 2021, with the 13.7% increase ranking 21st among the 50 states. Delaware, where traffic fatalities more than doubled, led the list. Another 19 states saw deaths drop on their roads.

Federal transportation officials in January announced a nationwide safety strategy to reduce deaths on the nation’s highways, funded with money from President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law.

The plan relies on new technology, adjusted speed limits, changes in road design and signage, and improved responses from medical personnel to stem the increase in traffic-related deaths.

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant.

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