Traffic Accidents and Fatalities Are Up in 2021. Here’s Why

In 2020, when everyone was impacted by the pandemic and businesses basically shut down for several months, the number of traffic accidents on the road decreased. This decline in accidents makes sense because there were many fewer vehicles on the road at any given time. Many experts were hopeful that when traffic returned to its normal levels after the pandemic that the number of accidents would remain low, but 2021 has proven that, unfortunately, this is not the case. The number of motor vehicle accidents and fatalities has risen sharply over 2020 statistics and are, in fact, at their highest levels in decades.

Fatality Increases Are Nationwide

The fatality rate of motor vehicle accidents is up in nearly every region of the U.S. Two regions where the fatality rate is slightly lower than in 2020 is in Region 1 (Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine), with a rate of 0.77 fatalities out of one million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) (compared to 0.78 in 2020) and in Region 3 (Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and Washington D.C.), with a rate of 1.31 fatalities out of one million VMT (compared to 1.34 in 2020).

In the remaining eight regions, the fatality rate per one million VMT has increased, with Region 4 (Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida) experiencing the highest increase. This region’s fatality rate is sitting at 1.66 per one million VMT in 2021 compared to 1.54 in 2020. Region 6 (Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico) is not far behind at 1.65 fatalities per one million VMT compared to 1.55 in 2020.

Fatality Numbers Increased During the Pandemic

Even though the fatality numbers are increasing in 2021 over 2020 levels, they were actually higher in 2020 than in previous years. This is somewhat paradoxical because the number of traffic accidents overall decreased. One would think that the fatality rate would also decrease. However, traffic experts indicate that the lack of traffic on the road during the pandemic actually emboldened some drivers to drive at lethal speeds so that if an accident did occur, it would more likely be fatal than not.

Additionally, compared with 2019, fewer drivers in 2020 wore seatbelts possibly because they believed there was a lower risk of getting into a car accident during this time. Unfortunately, for those who did suffer a traffic accident and were not wearing a seatbelt, their odds of dying in the accident increased significantly. Experts also indicate that more people drove drunk in 2020 as well, probably for similar reasons: they didn’t think they had as much of a chance of getting into a car accident with the decreased amount of traffic on the road.

Traffic Fatalities Are a Public Health Emergency

The pandemic altered traffic patterns to the point where the number of accidents and fatalities are not trending downward as one would expect following the return to normal traffic levels. Some people no longer drive to work because they’re now working from home, while others are now driving further distances to work at jobs they obtained during the pandemic to replace ones that were lost. Some experts predict the number of traffic accidents and fatalities to decrease back to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 or 2023, but even then, the statistics weren’t great.

As more and more people move to already-congested cities, the risk of getting into a car accident every time a driver hits the road increases. It’s just a matter of too many cars in too little space, and the infrastructure can’t keep up. Even with expanding highways, additional pedestrian paths, wider biking lanes, and implementation of various traffic-slowing mechanisms like roundabouts, these improvements are not completed in time to make an effective impact on the number of motor vehicle accidents. By the time new infrastructure is completed, it’s time to start expanding again.

Speed Is the Main Problem

As indicated by the increase in car accident fatalities in 2020 when the roads were clear and motor vehicles could go faster, speed is the differentiator between traffic accidents that don’t have fatalities and those that do. U.S. roads and highways are built for convenience, which means they are long and straight, and designed for speed. Speed has long been the decisive factor in the severity of a crash, so when a second object (another vehicle, a tree, a person) is hit, the damage to that object is directly related to how fast the first driver was going.

Unfortunately, this means that until the speed problem among U.S. drivers is fixed, the fatality rate is unlikely to decrease in any meaningful way. Some cities have undertaken road improvements designed to limit the speed of drivers, such as implementing roundabouts and speed bumps on streets that are long and straight, but as previously mentioned, these improvements don’t always happen quickly enough to make a lasting impact.

Until cities can effectively control speed on their streets, traffic accidents resulting in fatalities will continue to be a public health issue. Drivers are impatient and want to drive as quickly as possible, so measures must be taken to remove the possibility of speeding, whether it’s through traffic-calming measures like speed bumps, roundabouts, or lowering the speed limit or through increased speed enforcement and higher penalties.

Conclusion

The 2021 traffic accident and fatality numbers are surprising, even though they really shouldn’t be. When drivers have a chance to speed without penalty, many take it, putting everyone on the road at risk of suffering an injury or dying in a motor vehicle accident. We have to solve this problem together, and it starts with awareness. Personal injury lawyers can assist in raising this awareness among people who have been victims of speed-related traffic accidents. If you or a loved one has been impacted by a car accident injury or death, find out what your rights are by contacting a personal injury lawyer today.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes