US Roads Are Getting Safer
BUT THEY’RE STILL NOT SAFE ENOUGH
But a bit of good news is that distracted driving seems to be on the decline. The NHTSA reports that distracted driving also decreased by more than 8 percent from 2016 to 2017 and a whopping 42 percent since 2008, a year after the first iPhone was released.
Our streets and highways finally seem to be getting a little safer. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported a 1.8 percent decline in fatal motor vehicle collisions from 2016 to 2017 — the first decrease since 2013. Though the full data for 2018 is not yet available, preliminary numbers show an even more promising trend for last year. However, there are a few troubling numbers in the midst of this peachy picture. The number of people killed while driving or riding in SUVs — America’s favorite type of vehicle — actually increased by 3 percent in 2017. Even more disturbing is the fact that the number of pedestrians and bicyclists killed by drivers is at a 20-year high. Also, it’s difficult to call 37,133 vehicular fatalities in 2017 exactly a “good” number. It’s obvious that we can do a lot more to keep ourselves and our fellow drivers, riders, and walkers safe on the road. Reducing distracted driving is a frequent aim for improving road safety. The NHTSA reports that 3,166 people were killed in 2017 as a result of distracted drivers, which is just under 9 percent of total fatal crashes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each day, approximately nine people are killed and over 1,000 injured in crashes reported to involve a distracted driver. Have a Laugh!
These numbers may be improving, but we can push the envelope for safety much
further. New vehicle manufacturers like to claim that their “driver- assist” and “driverless” technologies are drastically reducing the number of collisions, and as these new technologies develop and emerge, it’s highly likely they will help. But they are not enough. To make a serious impact on the number of auto-related fatalities each year, it will require a commitment to giving undivided attention to the road from all drivers in the country. Through better drivers, we can take that fatality number down to where it should be: closer to zero.
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