“Slow down, save a life,”; “Buckle up”; “Alert today, alive tomorrow”; “Please drive safely.”

If you’ve spent any time in or behind the wheel of a vehicle, you’ve probably seen these appeals or something similar. The message comes and goes like lightning: here and gone as fast as you speed past it in your vehicle.

There may be good news on the horizon when it comes to driver safety in this country, but the bottom line is we’re not there yet.

The tide of invention and innovation sometimes seems sure to make our roads safer.

The car company Tesla — despite high profile failures — is pioneering assisted-driving systems that can slow or stop vehicles when drivers aren’t paying attention.

Uber will debut self-driving cars in Pittsburgh this month — albeit with a person in the driver’s seat, ready to take over if the vehicle’s systems fail or become confused.

The promise of self-driving and driverless vehicles is increased safety. But human fallability and poor decision-making are still part of the equation. On Tuesday the National Safety Council released preliminary estimates that indicate we’re not doing a good job of reducing those risk factors.

The council, a nonprofit agency that gets its data from states, estimated that 19,100 people have been killed on U.S. roads from January through June, and 2.2. million people were seriously injured. It estimated the cost of the deaths and injuries at a staggering $205 billion.

Only eight states — Hawaii, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming — and the District of Columbia reported fewer motor vehicle deaths than last year, according to the council.

In Pennsylvania 569 people have died so far this year in motor vehicle crashes, the council said — a 3 percent increase over last year and a 10 percent jump from 2014.

At the current rate the country could have more than 40,000 motor vehicle-related fatalities for the first time in nearly a decade.

Last year more than 35,000 people were killed in the deadliest year on the road since 2008, according to the council’s data.

The group is also estimating that this year’s Labor Day weekend could be the deadliest since 2008. NSC estimates that 438 people will be killed over that three-day period this year.

Meanwhile, the academic years of high schools around the county will be kicking off. School buses and street corners full of children will present an added variable to drivers during their morning and afternoon commutes.

Drivers will have to decide whether to slow down or hurry through that yellow light; whether they’d rather text and drive or keep an eye out for the flashing lights of a bus dropping off or picking up students.

The important thing to remember is that these are our choices to make.

Everyone behind the wheel needs to do their part and make our roads a safer place this fall than they were through the first half of the year.