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This story deserves our attention from the New York Times. It shows that pedestrian deaths from reckless drivers are at an all-time high in the United States. I warn you, it’s hard to read.
The data shows that since the pandemic, pedestrian fatalities from cars are “soaring into record territory amid a nationwide flare-up in reckless driving…[due to] the rise in anxiety levels and pandemic drinking [and] fraying social norms.”
Social norms as in pedestrians-have-the-right-of-way??? Or as in don’t-use-your-phone-while-driving???
Experts had hoped that fatalities would drop due to lockdowns but the opposite happened. Empty roads caused people to drive faster and crazier. Data also shows that larger roads in the U.S. encourage people to drive faster and Americans simply do. More than 6,700 pedestrians were killed in 2020, up 5%.
In Utah, drunk driving crashes are down 20% since the state lowered the acceptable blood alcohol limit from 0.08 to 0.05.
