But during the pandemic, something unexpected happened: total driving across the country dipped, but we saw a spike in crash deaths. Overall car fatalities increased by 7 percent in 2020 and another 11 percent in 2021, and pedestrian deaths similarly shot up.
The most widely accepted theory for why this happened is that in normal periods, routine traffic congestion slows cars down. But without road congestion during Covid, it suddenly became possible for drivers to go really fast and cause more fatal crashes — a shift that was enabled by the very design of roads in the US.
I suppose this is just a small glimpse of the decline the US has suffered in recent years, leading to more lawlessness, more violence, more drugs and an incompetent state that has, on numerous occasions, released criminals who have subsequently gone on to commit even more serious crimes, including the murder of innocent people. And this is just a small glimpse; I’m sure that if one were to investigate thoroughly, one could uncover even more shocking details.
It’s not just about bad drivers, it’s about bad design. When we build wide, high-speed roads through suburbs where people are forced to walk due to poverty, fatalities aren't accidents, they’re predictable outcomes of our urban planning.
Ugh, I tried to read the article but the moralizing in the beginning really got on my nerves.
You’ll never learn the surprising reason with that attitude
Spoiler alert
I suppose this is just a small glimpse of the decline the US has suffered in recent years, leading to more lawlessness, more violence, more drugs and an incompetent state that has, on numerous occasions, released criminals who have subsequently gone on to commit even more serious crimes, including the murder of innocent people. And this is just a small glimpse; I’m sure that if one were to investigate thoroughly, one could uncover even more shocking details.
I mean, thanks for providing the full graph, but "why deaths are down" is clearly not the story there...
You're right. I only actually read the article after posting the chart, and to be honest, I don't really get the surprising reason! ahahah
Being 13x more dangerous than Norway isn't a success story, it’s a systemic failure of American infrastructure.
It’s not just about bad drivers, it’s about bad design. When we build wide, high-speed roads through suburbs where people are forced to walk due to poverty, fatalities aren't accidents, they’re predictable outcomes of our urban planning.