Wonder how much of this can be tied to the economy getting better and more people buying/driving (used and less safe) cars when they previously couldn't afford to.
That's pretty convincing to me -- more miles driven means more driving deaths. Also, it's not clear to me whether the statistic on motor vehicle deaths includes collateral damage: cyclists and pedestrians killed by vehicles. Either way, yikes, cars kill lots of people.
Also, how much ridership do Zipcar and Uber take away from public transportation since they mostly operate in cities? Uber goes further in that it creates additional driver-miles while drivers are getting to or waiting for passengers.
The last recession in the US ended officially ended in 2009. I know the recovery has arguably been sluggish and uneven, but it doesn't seem like the slow & steadily rising GDP over an eight year span should explain much of this shorter-term jump in vehicular deaths.
If had to guess, I would attribute the rise to mobile devices distracting drivers - hence all the campaigns to stop texting+driving.