A report issued by the National Safety Council (NSC) shows that traffic deaths rose sharply in the first six months of 2015, but while everyone is scrambling to figure out why, no one seems to be quite sure.
Highway fatalities have generally decreased every year, but for some reason this year the number of fatalities is a whopping 14% higher than it was during the same time period last year. Deborah Hersman, president of the NSC, has offered a few possible explanations as to what may have caused the increase, but even she is scratching her head at how the numbers got so high.
According to Hersman, one factor could be that more people are on the roads this year than last. Americans collectively drove a record-setting 1.26 trillion miles in the first five months of 2015, but that’s only a 3.4% increase over last year – a far cry from the 14% increase in highway deaths.
What makes the increase so puzzling is that many negative factors have been becoming less and less common. Drunk driving was a factor in 30% of all traffic deaths, down from 50%. Teen driver deaths are down and seatbelt use is up, both of which would help the death toll to decrease.
Not all changes have been for the better however. Distracted driving (particularly cell phone use) is up – it’s now estimated that a quarter of all crashes involve a driver using a cell phone. The NSC also points to increased speed limits as a possible contributor to fatalities.
If highway fatalities continue at the current rate, over 40,000 people will lose their lives by the end of the year, a benchmark that has not been crossed since 2007.
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Source: csmonitor, thetrucker, gobytrucknews
They should ask one of the Safety group against truckers. They know the answer, it’s our fault.
It IS in part, the fault of the industry as a whole. With a major driver shortage these companies will put just about anyone under the wheel of their trucks. I know this because i was a student driver/trainer for one of the large companies. Minimum training + low pay + long working hours = What the hell do you expect. New inexperienced drivers being subject to the same laws, rules, regulations and restrictions as a 20 year veteran!?! Now there’s a recipe for failure!
What about luck running out?
Everybody is driving distracted, everybody is speeding thru constructions, lots of aggressive drivers out there.
Combine this with state police budget reductions and you get what you pay for.
Roads are more dangerous today than they were in 2007, not because of the lack of maintenance but due to the lack of enforcement.
You are 100% correct! I agree with you totally. I see speeders flying by my truck everyday and I see people driving and on their cell phones everyday and all the time, along with police shortages are reasons why there are a lot more accidents. Doesn’t take a panel of officials to figure this out, just ask truck drivers what we see each day. Other reasons are new truckers on the road learning our trade and 4 wheelers not looking far enough in advance to see what is going on. These are the reasons for an increase in accidents.
It is no mystery I dodge the texting morons all day long. Then add a healthy amount of a total lack of driving education for these four wheelers. How many times have we signaled to move right or left and have a four wheeler race in beside us.
its only because they don’t want a big truck in front of them. I have had them do this and as soon as they get even with the cab they slow to a crawl so they can’t let you in. Last night there was a lane closed on the roadway and I had my directional on ,waiting for this four wheeler to pass so I had this wide open space to get over and the minute I flicked on my signal the S.O.B. four wheeler behind me passes me a slows down. what I should have done was run his arss off the road but I kept my cool . I’ll get that fuker tonight though.
I don’t take a Rocket Scientist to figure it out ask all the Bad Truck Drivers what they see Daily going on in these Car. Phones Texting reading E Mail having Lunch putting on Make-up. Computers on the Passenger seat ,using phones as GPS’s Need any more we see it all. All day every Day.
I know someone that just took the driving permit for PA. She got 15 of a possible 18 questions correct. That is considered 100%. In PA the test is given in far too many languages other than English for me to count , as is done in many states. Call me crazy but it appears a lack of testing/training of new drivers, drivers that can’t understand road signs and distracted driving could all be cited at major factors. Yet we have overpaid bureacrats scratching their heads over this.
People driving like nothing could happen ….A very common occurrence here locally is this… On our 2 lane roads people will just decide to pass with oncoming traffic and in the yellow line no passing zone….Had someone run off into the ditch just the other day…Tried to pass 3 vehicles two care and a big truck with me coming the other way…not enough room..
Cars day good viability dry road..They could see me …
They just aren’t going to wait…don’t know the meaning of the word fear…There are those home made memorials everywhere along our local roads…
One of our local women thinks it just hilarious that her own mother will not ride in the car with her unless Mom holds her cell phone…That’s the only way that she will stay off the phone and stop texting…Funny Ha?
My guess is that several factors are in play, including statistical anomaly. More data is needed to see if 14% growth is “the new normal” – I’m betting not.
I was a Kansas trooper for more than 31 years. I was quite clear that the increased use of cellphones while driving (texting, viewing and talking) was a big mitigating factor in the increase and severity of highway crashes. Distracted driving is much like drinking and driving was in the 40s, 50s and 60s, we (as a society) have not seriously addressed the consequences of this extremely dangerous practice. The fact is, responsible driving requires constant focused attention to driving related tasks. When that attention is divided among other non-driving related tasks, crashes will increase.
Overall and without question, the most “drive task” focused group of US drivers is CMV drivers. More than 80% of all CMV involved fatality crashes are not attributable to CMV driver error or inattention – a which further supports the argument that distracted driving is a pervasive and growing problem on our highways.
I get so tired of seeing people’s use of cell phones being blamed for all the fatal accidents. There are many other ways that a person can get fatally distracted while driving. Such as, kids in the back seat fighting, mom turns her head for a few seconds to sort it out; changing cd’s & radio stations; talking to passengers & turning to look at them & not pay attention to the road; eating; drinking beverages; pouring coffee from a thermos into a cup; and many many more. When I was driving a truck long haul, there were plenty of distracted 4-wheelers & truck drivers too. And that was before everybody had cell phones. It’s just that there are so many more drivers on the road, therefor more fatal accidents. I have no clue as to why there’s been such an increase in fatalities this year, but stop blaming everything on cell phone usage!
btw, I have a cell phone & I use the mapping on it on occasion, but I stop when I need to recheck where I am & how to get where I’m going. Just common sense.
Polar Vortex; strong blowing snow & icy road conditions…myself, driving down Pa., I-81s, mm 150…one lane of cars plowing thru the snow and the SUV traveling ahead of me hydroplanes and does a complete 180 degree turn then comes to rest facing my on coming semi truck…in a 2 second burst of movement…its hit or miss…gotta luv the job
Where in this article does it even mention truck drivers !
“Americans collectively drove a record-setting 1.26 trillion miles in the first five months of 2015, but that’s only a 3.4% increase over last year – a far cry from the 14% increase in highway deaths.
What makes the increase so puzzling…”
Here’s an easy explanation overlooked by the article. If the highway system didn’t expand by 3.4% to accommodate that 3.4% increase in miles driven, then the highways became more crowded. Their crowdedness to begin with could have been close to a tipping point which, once exceeded, could trigger a disproportionately large increase in highway deaths.
I’m not saying this is what caused it but it does make sense to me as a plausible explanation for what happened.
Oh man I probably see people texting on their phones a couple times a day. I see four wheelers cut two lanes to make an exit a few times a day. And I probably see four wheelers cut in between another four wheeler and a big rig because they’re too impatient to wait for the other vehicle to pass the other, a dozen times a day. The Red Asphalt video should be mandatory to watch before you get your class C
You have to love the irony; Distracted driving is quickly becoming the leading cause of deaths on the highway, and yet…auto manufacturers are continually packing more and more technology into the vehicles which require the driver’s complete attention to operate. Forget texting, the multi-information display screens are a disaster in the making.
Why don’t auto manufacturers simply limit the operation of these devices while the vehicle is going over a specific speed? Similar to our Qualcomms. Oh, of course, how silly of me. Because they want to sell cars and people just LOVE their toys.
So now, as a result, we all need to accept the game of Russian Roulette which we are subjected to as professional drivers. Small wonder it’s getting hard to find people to work in this industry.
DEB, should drive without blinders on its easy to see. 4 wheelers doing 75-90 MPH through construction zones. Speed limit at 70, 4 wheeler doing 90. Then the tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic at excessive speeds. How blind is this person? Speeds on the roads are at their most volatile rates I have ever experienced. Now the cell phone use, cruise control set at 80+, feet on the dash, need I go on. It is totally pathetic how people today take to much for granted.
The article doesn’t even mention trucks, and all you guys are throwing a fit about trucks. It’s overall fatalities. Read the story.
It’s a trucking website, comes with the territory.
I came off the road after 20 years 2011. The CSA 2010 from what I understand is nothing short of a disaster. Companies using black boxes, regulations don’t allow for the driver to pull off and take a nap for a few hours to get refreshed. Too much texting while driving especially on the part of 4 wheelers. A so called driver shortage…That old card has been played for decades. organizations like
(PATT) and (CRASH) has done more to harm the industry than to help it. instead of coming to veteran drivers to find solutions the gov’t goes to the afore mentioned groups for solutions.
I really think it’s due to the amount of drivers that have the attitude, they’re more important, their time is more important, their wants are more important & getting to their destination is more important than anything or anyone else & they do whatever they want like surfing the net, texting, emailing, etc while lane jumping & cutting off others