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Why Are American Drivers So Deadly? After decades of declining fatality rates, dangerous driving has surged again. (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 10 months ago by silence7@slrpnk.net to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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The cause was easy enough to identify: Data parsed by Kuhls and her colleagues showed that drivers were speeding more, on highways and on surface streets, and plowing through intersections with an alarming frequency. Conversely, seatbelt use was down, resulting in thousands of injuries to unrestrained drivers and passengers. After a decade of steady decline, intoxicated-driving arrests had rebounded to near historic highs.

... The relationship between car size and injury rates is still being studied, but early research on the American appetite for horizon-blotting machinery points in precisely the direction you’d expect: The bigger the vehicle, the less visibility it affords, and the more destruction it can wreak.

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[-] marine_mustang@sh.itjust.works 94 points 10 months ago

Just my own experience and maybe due to frequency bias, but holy shit everyone seemed to lose their goddamn minds behind the wheel after Covid.

[-] SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world 53 points 10 months ago

People seem to have gone “feral”.

Animals in the store?

No shoes/shirt?

Waiting your turn?

Treating other people (especially service workers)?

Nope. Just a feral return to “mine mine mine, me me me”

[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 20 points 10 months ago

Yup. Everyone realized social norms/good behavior, was just a social shared agreement. If you opt out, and shit on the floor, it's the other person's fault for caring

[-] dumpsterlid@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

People are the same as they have ever been, the US is just genuinely entering a state of collapse and people are more desperate and less able to cope with side quests in life that demand them to be kind and patient.

[-] 0110010001100010@lemmy.world 34 points 10 months ago

And I swear SOOOO many fucking people on their phones. Bitch, you aren't that important. Put it the fuck down and drive.

[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 11 points 10 months ago

Former firefighter: COVID didn't start that.

[-] BruceTwarzen@kbin.social 8 points 10 months ago

That is not new tho. People now watching tv shows while driving is pretty new. And i assume people who do that are also on their phones at the same time.

[-] psud@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

We just got phone enforcement cameras, they're cantilevered over the lanes

[-] Igotz80HDnImWinning@kbin.social 26 points 10 months ago

Yes! A TON of people have brain damage from COVID and have no idea they have brain damage from COVID.
https://twitter.com/yash25571056/status/1745048307335119358

[-] astraeus@programming.dev 3 points 10 months ago

80% of infected individuals have suffered neurological symptoms probably shouldn’t equate with 100% of those who experienced symptoms were found to have permanent brain damage.

[-] Voyajer@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

A lot of people only go the speed limit because there are cars in the way

[-] NateSwift@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

Apparently i’m a lot of people

[-] psud@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

Some of them really really don't like that at all

It works though

[-] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

Yes. Covid unleashed a lot of people’s inner narcissism. Bunch of fucking me-mes.

this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
258 points (96.4% liked)

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