More than 46,000 people died on America’s roads last year, a 22 percent increase from pre-pandemic levels, according to traffic safety experts who link the rise to more motorists mixing drugs and alcohol.
The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that 46,270 people died last year, a slight drop from 46,980 in 2020, but higher than before Covid-19, which emptied roads but caused More speeding and risk taking.
Lorraine Martin, NSC President and CEO, said the carnage amounted to a “crash of a regional jet carrying 100 people, killing everyone on board every day” and urged drivers to buckle up and reduce the speed.
The figures come after another weekend of carnage on America’s highways, including a suspected drunk driver who crashed his Nissan Armada in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday while his eight-month-old daughter was in the back seat.
Martin blamed America’s increasingly dangerous roads on “stress, social isolation and substance abuse” brought on by the pandemic that continues even as the outbreak subsides.
The National Security Council (NSC) estimates that 46,270 people died last year, a slight drop from 46,980 in 2020, but more than before COVID-19.
A government study late last year found that more than half of people injured or killed in traffic accidents had one or more drugs or alcohol in their bloodstreams.
He cited a government study showing that nearly 55 percent of accident victims tested positive for alcohol, cannabis or opioids.
“We bring those shortcomings with us when we get behind the wheel,” Martin told the BBC.
The large study conducted by US highway safety regulators late last year found that more than half of people injured or killed in traffic accidents had one or more drugs or alcohol in their bloodstreams.
THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, was the most common, followed by alcohol, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study showed.
The researchers said the results cannot be used to measure drug use on highways across the country, but the sheer number of drivers, passengers and other road users with drugs in their systems was concerning.
While many opioids remain illegal, more and more US states have legalized marijuana for recreational use by adults, leading to more people getting behind the wheel when high and an increase in accidents, injuries and deaths.
Eight states and Washington DC saw significant reductions in traffic deaths last year, with Oklahoma, Idaho, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Montana, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Arizona seeing significant decreases.
Still, that was offset by markedly higher death rates from crashes in Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, Maine, New Hampshire, Delaware, Connecticut, Nebraska, Washington, and Indiana.
The NSC estimates come weeks before NHTSA releases the official numbers, but they use government data sources and are considered reliable.
Lorraine Martin, President of the National Security Council
Road deaths began rising two years ago when roads were largely empty due to stay-at-home orders in many states at the height of the pandemic.
With less traffic, speeds increased, as did reckless and impaired driving, leading to a record rise in fatalities last year, authorities said.
Many people were not wearing seat belts, the government says.
Nearly 43,000 people died on US roads in 2021, the highest number in 16 years as Americans returned to the roads.
The 10.5 percent jump from the 2020 figures was the largest percentage increase since NHTSA began collecting data in 1975.
In an effort to reduce deaths, the federal government is sending $5 billion in aid to cities and towns to slow vehicles, create bike paths and push commuters onto public transit.
A billboard warning against driving under the influence of cannabis in Topeka, Kansas, where marijuana has not yet been legalized.