Posted on 11/13/2021 8:56:14 PM PST by SeekAndFind
New data is out about traffic fatalities in 2020 and, despite the lockdowns from Covid, the numbers are shocking.
Deaths on the road were higher during 2020 than any other year dating back to 2007 - during a year where less people were driving, Bloomberg reported this week.
Even more alarming is the fact that 2021 could wind up being worse, as the government estimates that 20,160 have died from crashes in the first half of 2021 - a stunning 18.4% increase from 2020.
Transportation Secretary "Mayor Pete" said in October, when the numbers were released: “This is a crisis. We cannot and should not accept these fatalities as simply a part of everyday life in America.”
Meanwhile, the NHTSA is allowing Tesla to beta test its latest version of its "Full Self Driving" on public roads seemingly without interruption.
The deaths were initially blamed on reckless driving on empty roads, but that explanation fell short in explaining this year's numbers, since people are returning to the roads.
Pam Shadel Fischer, senior director for external engagement at the Governors Highway Safety Association commented: “This is our other national pandemic—traffic crashes.”
Experts "don’t know what’s causing the surge," the report says. Guesses include more people speeding and less people wearing seatbelts, the NHTSA said. Vehicles are also "getting bigger" and lawmakers are making it "legal to go faster", Bloomberg wrote.
Regulators used to simply believe that less driving meant less accidents and more driving would mean more accidents. Beth Osborne, director of the advocacy group Transportation for America, said: “At least one of our assumptions has been proven wildly wrong.”
She continued: “If I see a very wide-open road, my natural inclination is to drive fast. Highways are designed specifically to allow for fast driving. What we’ve done is take that highway design and apply it to roadways that serve local developments, where there are lots of conflicts.”
David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, added: “We know from research we’ve done that a greater amount of horsepower equals higher speeds traveled, and we know higher speeds traveled leads to a higher number of crashes with higher severity.”
No word on whether or not Mayor Pete was seen driving away in his Model 3 after his late October press conference on the issue...
One phrase explains the surge of accidents: Cell Phones.
In southcentral PA the average speed is at least 15 mph over the posted speed limit on Interstates, maybe slightly less on secondary roads.
Most drivers seem programmed to go as fast as they can until they encounter a slower vehicle which is then tailgated relentlessly.
No enforcement.
Thank you, BLM!
People are more reckless driving these days IMO.....still using cell phones while driving as well. Just had my car clipped by a fellow this week while parked on the street. This was simply careless driving on his part.
I won’t drive down in Pittsburgh at all because driving the Interstate roads is pure insanity to get there....
Lots of people driving like they have no common sense these days.
Um, cell phone usage on the roads were actually about the same before the pandemic. So, no.
I wonder if the number of legal immigrants and border crashers could have anything to do with it.
Does anyone know the difference between less and fewer? I see no indication of that in pretty much everything I read.
There’s only one solution...BAN PRIVATE AUTOMOBILES.
Folks, they ARE proposing this at COP26.
Spike protein brain fog?
Don’t think so, at least not here in Texas. When lockdowns started being released, many essential workers who had been driving the entire time noticed that as soon as people in Texas could move about freely the number of insane drivers on the roads went way up.
There was also a huuuuuuuuuuge surge in psych problems during lockdown as has been widely studied and reported. Lots of people went off the rails to various degrees during lockdown/quarantine.
This was all before the Obidenation, so the borders were being enforced and almost nobody was getting in legally.
Fewer miles. Not less miles.
It must be the new fad of not bothering to stop at stop signs, just roll right on through. Just had a kid in the neighborhood killed doing it. Got hit broadside. He was seen doing it regularly in town.
If Milwaukee is any indication of a general trend it would be because the police do not enforce the traffic laws. Going 60-80MPH on surface streets is a common practice and stop lights are a mere suggestion for many.
It’s such a new fad that it got a name when it became popular.
The “California Rolling Stop” has been a named and known popular thing since at *least* the 1950s!
Well, that’s a surprise. Figured there would be a decrease since many killed in accidents, who were tested for and found to have had Covid when they died, where counted as Covid deaths.
Pot legalization?
Some other phrases:
a. Women
b. Asians
c. Old men in hats
#Science
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