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Iowa State Police
Some of the vehicles involved in a pileup on Interstate 35 in Iowa are seen Thursday. Two people were reported killed in the crash.
After nearly a decade of decline, U.S. highway fatalities appear to be on the upswing again, according to new government data, with the death total climbing faster than at any time since 1975.
The 7.1 percent jump during the first nine months of the year has safety experts scrambling for an explanation, though at least some of the blame may go to the economy, with more Americans driving longer distances as their personal financial situation has improved, post-recession.
“There is a relationship between the economy, gas prices, driving and fatalities,” noted Jonathan Adkins, deputy executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association. “However, the increase can’t be explained solely because of an improving economy and more discretionary driving.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an estimated 25,580 Americans were killed in motor vehicle crashes during the first nine months of 2012. That was approximately 1,700 more than died during the same period the year before.
Traffic fatalities fell to their lowest level in more than six decades during 2011, according to a study released by federal regulators earlier this month. The death toll was a still-significant 32,367, but that was down from 43,510 as recently as 2005, when a variety of factors began a dive in highway fatalities.
Last year’s tally was not only the lowest overall total since the late 1940s but saw fatalities fall to a record low based on deaths per 100 million miles driven.
According to the NHTSA, motorists did log more miles during the first three quarters of 2012, but the increase of 14.2 billion miles, or 0.6 percent, doesn’t come close to accommodating the overall rise in the death toll. On a miles-driven basis, fatalities rose to 1.16 per 100 million miles compared to 1.09 for the same 9-month period last year, and 1.10 per 100 million miles for all of 2011.
According to GHSA’s Adkins, “Other factors may be at play. For example, 2012 had one of the warmest winters on record. That may have resulted in a longer motorcycle riding season and more pedestrian activity and hence, more fatalities.”
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Safety officials have been lamenting the steady increase in the number of states, such as Michigan, that have recently abandoned helmet laws. While fatalities among those in passenger vehicles has been dropping sharply in recent years, motorcycle deaths have risen markedly. Also up are pedestrian deaths, with the government reporting a 4 percent rise for 2010, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
The increase in traffic during the winter may also have had a disproportionate impact on the overall fatality rate. Significantly, roadway deaths rose 13 percent during the first quarter of 2012, while the increase was a more modest 4.9 percent during the warm third quarter.
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NHTSA officials have been warning that what Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has called an “epidemic” of distracted driving” could reverse recent downward trends. But the agency has not weighed in on whether it is linking such problems as texting while driving with this year’s rise in highway fatalities.
Yet to be seen is whether increased freeway speed limits are implicated. But despite some concerns as states continue to relax those limits – Texas opening the nation’s fastest roadway, at 85 mph, this autumn. However, previous years showed little direct linkage, the death toll dropping even as most states had approved steadily higher speeds.
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Leave a Comment:
Blame the NRA! Just as well.
WE need more government intervention. Only they know the answers and can pass laws that will fix the problem. Everyone obeys all the laws passed, right?
Cell phones and texting.
Another huge issue is the increase in what I will call active advertising. Electronic billboards, moving signs, even idiots paid to hold signs on corners and wave to drivers. The human eye is drawn toward movement. Drivers take their eyes off the road.
Then add in navigation systems and touch screen radios and other controls inside the car. Any system where you have to scroll through menus to made an adjustment is more time your eye is off the road. Give me my older vehicle with a regular radio please.
Driver training. I'm for having to take the written exam at each license renewal. We all forget (or remember incorrectly) some laws and rules of the road. Just because we haven't had collisions doesn't mean we are doing everything correctly. And if you have at fault accidents or moving violations you have to take the driving part of the test at renewal in addition to the written exam.
My place of work sometimes receives shipments where the truck has to park on the street. It is a one way frontage road with two lanes. So even with the truck in one there is still an open lane. The trucks have hazard lights flashing and I can stand at the rear of the truck and watch vehicles come right up on the truck before the drivers change lanes. Drivers do not look down the road to see what kind of traffic conditions they are approaching. So they are often taken by surprise.
It is usually the sudden maneuver (lack of attention) and vehciles traveling at different speeds that cause accidents. A bunch of cars properly spaced are just as safe traveling at 20 mph as they are 75 mph. Entrance ramps and exit ramps are to be used to speed up and slow down to match the speed of the road you are entering. That doesn't mean enter the interstate going 30 or braking on the interstate to slow down before you take the exit.
Personally I love my older vehicle. It has more glass and better visibility than newer safer cars. Sure, if I ever get in a collision the newer car will likely protect me better but I can see traffic much better and therefore prepare for changes sooner in my old vehicle. I actually bought this type of vehicle twice, new in 1989 and new in 2001. It is a Jeep Cherokee. I have been able to safely drive the same type of vehicle for 23 years. Only accident was getting rear ended at a light. No ABS, no traction control, no stability control, no blind spot sensors or cameras. It is short, narrow and sits taller. But I haven't rolled, flipped, crashed, been hurt or killed or caused any accidents in those 23 years.
But my Cherokee has thinner upright roof pillars that don't block my vision. It has lots of glass, far more than any newer SUV. I can see all around and constantly use my mirrors and turn my head to look everywhere. My wife's 2009 Malibu has all the safety features my Cherokee lacks but both of us have found that it has blind spots galore.
Personally I'd rather be able to avoid collisions first by being able to see.
And I don't own a cell phone.
You don't need a regular car,you need a bumper car! Of couese,that would mean you would have to go back to a one seater!I'm sure you wouldn't mind!
Thank you. I thought I was the only one. There's an ad on TV for some car right now proudly showing how they've replaced all those annoying knobs and buttons with this great touch-screen system. But guess what? In my car, I can adjust the heat or the radio without ever taking my eyes of the road. I know where the knobs are, and can adjust them by feel.
The cell phones are the real killers. Mine stays in my pocket when I'm driving. I don't care who's calling - leave a message and I'll call back from the parking lot at the supermarket. On my 20-minute drive home from the gym today I had to react twice to someone who was beginning to come across the yellow line, and guess what? Each of these morons had a cell phone plastered to the side of her face. And this, in a state in which it's illegal.
Ban cell phones, cars, guns, stoopid people, the US gov. Hell, just ban the whole freakin world.
I've been saying it for a long time. Cut horsepower to 50, speed limit to 35 and minimum age for driving to 25. Why do we allow so many people to be slaughtered every year just because people think they have to hurry to get somewhere? Leave earlier. No one but law enforcement and emergency personnel need to have access to vehicles that go in excess of 35. Not only safety issues but also fuel consumption. C'mon all you liberals who want to save lives by banning guns and who want to save the planet from global warming...here's your cause. I guess you'll give up your BMW, Lexus, Explorer, etc. when they pry it from your "cold dead hands"? You talk the talk, but won't walk the walk.
Outlandish? Only if you don't care about "the children"..."do it for the children"..."it's just commonsense".
Well said
Without efficient transportation, our economy would collapse. Without guns, we'd simply have a nation without guns. See how that's different?
And the criminal element would go bat $hit crazy overnight, to the point that we wouldn't be able to come out from behind barred windows and doors in broad daylight, much less after dark.
Ban the rat box Obama buggies that are capable of too much speed....anything over 25 for these tin foil pieces of crap is too fast......
While you're at it ban the mini-vans that are either in your way...or going 90 mph full of kids and a soccer ball sticker on the back......
........with a far left leaning communist mother behind the wheel. LMFAO!!!!!!!!
Can we ban those sticker that show the mother,father,kids,dogs,cats ect too,god I hate them.
Vehicles and roads don't kill people, it's those Hollywood lefties with their lattes and their 200 dollar haircuts that kill people. And BTY @!$%# Wayne Lapierre
F U TOO!!!!
Time to pass more laws about driving.
With this new data..the GOP might figure a way to do that fiscal cliff problem.
Be plan D...DEATHS!
MIKE: Too bad your parents didn't believe in abortions.I'm certain it's a decision they regret to this day.How's that english lit degree serving you these day?With your knowledge of sentence structure and composition,I suggest, public relations for a job.Now,say after me "Would you like fries with that burger,mam?"You are a shoe in for the next job.Try the largest PR firm in the world.McDonald's Inc.
The other day,I saw a deranged Chevy, trying to fling itself at a Ford, in an own coming lane.Good thing the driver got off that fone or otherwise that Chevy could have killed someone!
With all the states not allowing talking on the phone while driving and instead they are texting which is way more dangerous is causing more accidents?
If we ask nicely, maybe Obama can give personal drivers out also...so I can talk on my free cellphone without having to drive.
I'll give you my car when you pry it from my cold dead a$$!
We must ban all roads before more senseless killing is done!!
Ban vehicle's? Better star banning roads and highway's they kill ya know!
Definitely more efficient at it than guns, however the end all cure would be to ban stoopid people. That would cut the pop in half overnight also, a win win.
I wonder if with alot of people driving like idiots , if that may be a reason.Every day I see people passing on double yellow lines,not stopping at stop signs and even passing on the right shoulder.People seem to be in such a hurry or just plain stupid that they don't pay attention or don't care for anyone but themselves.Even when the posted speed limit is 65 they travel about 75 or 80 because 65 is to slow??It all boils down to drive like you should not like you want..
Got a better idea....make everyone walk...can you imagine how much gas and pollution you would eliminate, not to mention, better health and fewer doctors.
It's the "auto" transmissions, BAN them! who needs something you just squeeze the pedal & "spray" gravel. only cops need those. We need to rethink the laws on these things. Add more restrictions, check the owners temperature, hide your children, here comes another one!
Ban cars, and while you are at it, ban liberals and the government.
Couldn't agree more with most of the comments on here. Automobiles have killed roughly twice as many people as guns this year, and yet, we accept automobile deaths as a way of life. This is just hypocritical b.s. If you are going to hold an inanimate object responsible for one thing, then you need to hold them responsible for all. What happened in Newton was horrible, but it was the act of a PERSON, not a machine.
Ultimately, though, you just have to accept the fact that no matter where you go or what you do you could die at any moment. Life is not a "right" and it's not guaranteed. So instead of using a tragedy to push your own political agends, why don't you do as past leaders have done... offer condolences, maybe some inspiring words, but remind them that safety is an illusion. That they need to live every day to the fullest because one day it may be their last. Remember, there's no law that says you have to grow old... yet.
We don't accept cars killing people, we try and iniate laws and enforce them, educate, require licensing. Patrol the roads. Make cars safer.
Guns? We just let everyone have any gun, no training. No licensure,,nada.
So, red neck if you is a gonna compare do it scientifically. Oops there is that bad word again for right wingers .."science." Maybe if we all went to church cars would drive better...it's evil that is causing all this.
What I thought about Benghazi.lol
Driving the other day I decided to make a game of how many folks I saw with cellphones to the ear, looking down probably texting. Was in small town square in a holiday logjam and I swear 80% were conducting social /business calls...then got on HIGHWAY and I lost count but over 50% were doing something besides just driving. Just an observation.
I knew it would come to this ban cars, and while you`r at it ban obama.
It's the car's fault- ban the car.
Stupidity, carelessness, and irresponsibility are never factors.
cars dont kil people people kill people.
Noone is banning cars. We ned to make changes. Anyone with something hanging from the rear view mirrow carries the mark of a dunce, get them off the road.
Tailgating, going 75 in snow. 120 car pileups and these folks have guns.
Good morning Srich. Right on, it's the liberal mindset, let's not blame the fool, but instead, the tool. Do they not think totally ass backwards or what? Has to be a neurological screw up associated with the genes passed down from their political ideology. LOL. BTW, your new avatar looks as fantastic as the former ones. Merry Christmas to you and yours, and have a wonderful and blessed new yr my friend.
Actually some tools are dangerous in the hands of irresponsible fools you would agree?
Thanks Midnight- always good to see you- Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!
Wallace- all tools are dangerous in the hands of many fools!
You look like one with something dangling from your rear view mirror. Tenn driving 90 mph in parking lots.
"Actually some tools are dangerous in the hands of irresponsible fools you would agree?"
Absolutely Wallace, things such as cars, guns, a chop ax, knives, tire tools, a 2x4, baseball bats, and on and on and on and on........Blame the fool not the tool. Until this gov free's itself from their puppet master global elitists who have bought and paid for them and are the sole handlers in control of the strings attached to them none of this insanity will EVER come to an end. Everything happens for a reason, and the reason behind the carnage that goes on in this nation is strictly designed to destroy us from within. Nothing ever attempted in the history of this world has ever been carried out with more precision and efficiency than the attempt to totally annihilate the worlds LAST BEST HOPE (United States of America). Now, would you like for me to give you an explanation for the reason behind that also? It's very simple.
No need to ban cars or driving, but unlike guns we do try and control the hiways:
Must be a registered driver. guns, no
Must adhere to rules of road. Guns, no
Vehicle must meet safety standards. guns, no
Police patrol. Guns, no
We don't want to ban all guns but we need controls and certain guns, like certain vehicles don't need to be on the road or used in normal society,
Ban all far left leaning communist liberals and watch the world morph into the perfect utopia.
Yeah hahha. You would still have the guy in Indiana with 150 guns who the day before the Con n shooting theatened to kill as many as he could. Elementary school 1000 feet away. They arrested one of your NRA brothers.
Right wingers drive like they handle their guns..irresponsible.
Ain't no guvmint gonna tell me I can't drive 95 in a blizzard, 2 inches off a bumper of an 18 wheeeler . Dem seat belts is sissy stuff. I got all mah guns on the coffe table at home, loaded with a hare trigger and I got two toddlers...but I done trained them to fire a gun.
Thanks, Bubba Red Neckerson. Obama is the anti Christ. Now gonna listen to mah boy Glenn Beck
It's a good thing for everyone Wallace, that you are reaching the final yrs of your miserable life.