Everything from infrastructure to larger vehicles, distracted driving, and other factors appear to play a role
12 hours ago
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It’s often said that flying is safer than driving in a car and that statistic is true. What’s often unnoticed is just how dangerous driving is getting in the USA. Now, a new report considering all of the contributing factors has come to some grim conclusions. Not only is driving in America getting more deadly, but in addition, there isn’t a single cause for us to focus on reducing or eliminating.
The New York Times recently published an extensive piece entitled “Why Are American Drivers So Deadly?” and regardless of how one might feel about that assertion, the data appears to back it up. It’s not American cars, American infrastructure, or American attitudes that are to blame specifically but the behavior of the drivers specifically that plays a large role.
From 2020 to 2021, the NHTSA calculated a 16 percent increase in crashes on US roads. On average, there were 16,500 accidents every single day, or over six million annually. In 2021, 42,939 people died in traffic accidents on American roads. That’s up from 38,824 in 2020 and 36,355 in 2019.
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According to the report, the situation isn’t a simple one to fix. Many drivers admit to engaging in more dangerous driving behavior. In fact, the bad driving behavior of one motorist will likely spread to others. Unsafe driving tactics like driving too slow or too fast for conditions, cutting other drivers off, actively using a mobile device, and running traffic control devices all add to the danger.
At the same time, it’s also true that some factors specific to the USA play a role in the increase in accidents and deaths. Two notable variables are how big vehicles are getting and how poor some infrastructure is. In the case of the former, the report points to the additional weight and reduced visibility brought on by larger vehicles. The latter often rears its head in the form of pedestrian or cyclist injuries.
For now, there’s no clear-cut solution to the issue. It appears that among many things, driver education is key. Working to improve the way that everyone uses the road is a social matter though and how it gets solved is up for debate.
