December 11, 2023
|
Good morning. We’re covering the rise in U.S. traffic deaths — as well as Harvard’s president, corporate profits and “The O.C.” |
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Outlier status
For most of the automobile’s first century of existence, it became safer.
In the 1920s, the death toll from vehicle crashes was so high that gruesome photos of accidents were a staple of newspaper coverage. By 2010 — thanks to better design of roads and vehicles, the addition of seatbelts and greater awareness of drunken driving, among other things — the death rate from crashes had fallen almost 90 percent from its 1920s level.
By The New York Times | Source: National Safety Council
But the progress ended about a decade ago, or at least it did in the United States. Even as vehicle deaths have continued falling in most counties, they have risen in this country.
Here’s a stark way of thinking about the problem: If the U.S. had made as much progress reducing vehicle crashes as other high-income countries had over the past two decades, about 25,000 fewer Americans would die every year.
By The New York Times | Source: OECD
My colleagues Emily Badger, Ben Blatt and Josh Katz have published a story this morning that tries to solve one part of the mystery of this country’s outlier status. Emily, Ben and Josh focus on a specific part of the problem: Pedestrian deaths have surged at night.