Motor Vehicle Fatalities Up 45% in Connecticut this year

[dazzleman]

What do you guys make of this?  I read that traffic fatalities in Connecticut are up 45% this year over last.  The article below is absolute garbage, but I think this must have something to do with distracted driving by people paying more attention to their stupid cellphones than to the road.
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http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Motor-vehicle-fatalities-soar-45-percent-9184844.php

Motor vehicle fatalities soar 45 percent
By Ken Dixon Updated 5:51 pm, Thursday, August 25, 2016


Motor vehicles fatalities in Connecticut increased 45 percent during the first six months of 2016, according to a new report that compares the same period in 2015.
The National Safety Council report issued Thursday says the increase in fatal crashes supports the need to prioritize mass transit, biking and pedestrian programs.
The Washington-based nonprofit reported that Connecticut had 138 fatalities between Jan. 1 and June 30, compared to 95 during the first six months of 2015.
In response, a spokeswoman for AAA Northeast said she is surprised the totals aren't higher, in because driver civility has declined while speed and distractions have increased.
"The increase in fatalities in 2016 likely reflects the effects of low real gas prices that have averaged over 16 percent below 2015 levels for the first six months of 2016, helping to produce a 3.3 percent increase in cumulative vehicle mileage through May," the report said, stressing research that indicates private vehicles are among the most dangerous forms of travel.

"Transit, biking, and pedestrian alternatives are much safer forms of transportation when compared to driving," said Evan Preston, director of the consumer watchdog Connecticut Public Interest Research Group. "Prioritizing investments in non-driving modes of travel will help save Nationally, motor-vehicle related fatalities rose 9 percent, with 2.2 million injuries and $205 billion in property damage, National Safety Council report said. In New England, Vermont and New Hampshire experienced 63 and 61 percent increases in vehicular deaths during the same period. Massachusetts, with 179 fatalities, was 20 percent over the previous year, according to the NSC survey.
"This new data should be a wake-up call that we cannot continue to waste billions on new and wider highways that only serve to incentivize additional driving while neglecting critical investments in non-driving modes of transportation and repair of existing roads," said John Olivieri, National Campaign Director for 21st Century Transportation at the United States Public Interest Research Group. "Driving is one of the least safe forms of transportation we have available to us. This year alone, we are on track to lose 110 lives a day. That is simply unacceptable."
The NSC is predicting than an excess of 430 deaths will occur on the nation's highways during the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

Fran Mayko, public affairs specialist for AAA Northeast, said the hike in fatalities both nationally and in the state are not surprising in a week where there have been multiple truck crashes on Connecticut's interstate highways, including an early morning Thursday fatality on Interstate 91 in New Haven.
"Lower gas prices are certainly prompting more drivers to hit the road, so it stands to reason with more cars on roadways, one's risk as a driver certainly increases," Mayko said. "Roll into this fact that Connecticut — especially along the I-95/91/84 corridors - are very congested simply because of the number of people who commute to jobs in cities where they simply can't afford to live. Wrap in the ongoing construction and deteriorating roads and you have a recipe for disaster."
Mayko said people drive too fast, are increasingly distracted and unfocused and have lost a level of "civility" that combine to decrease road safety.
"Drivers in general tend to underestimate the amount of risk they face on roadways at any point in time," she said. "With that attitude, I'm very much surprised the numbers aren't higher."

[ifcar]

I'd want to see a broader trendline, as the numbers are still fairly low in total. I'm not sure that texting while driving or other distractions would have jumped all of a sudden -- people have been doing that for years.

[FoMoJo]

Pokemon Go?

[mzziaz]

Small numbers = large natural variations.

[Rich]

Fatalities were up across the US in 2015

[Lebowski]

Biking (along roads) is safer than driving?

I would definitely think distraction from smartphones is a factor.

[12,000 RPM]

Smartphones didn't come out last year though... nor did any new game changing social media platforms

If I had to put my data hat on I would say it has something to do with cheap gas. Miles driven in the US was up a tick in 2015, and 2015 coincided with a huge drop in gas prices.

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/data/10315


I'm feeling like both of these trends helped get a lot more young people on the roads which is where I recall seeing the lion's share of these fatality increases.

[shp4man]

I would say that it's definitely due to brain dead idiots texting while driving. From personal experience.

[CaminoRacer]

It's those self driving cars killing everyone!

[AutobahnSHO]

My GUESS is that the smartphone IS to blame. The difference from years previous is the age groups of those having issues.

Out west and many other areas, 16yrs old is when a person starts driving. East coast seems to be different, people are generally older because public transportation makes a car not as "necessary". So maybe 18-20??

So the first iPhone came out in 2007, android followed a year or two later to start to pick up in traction. The people buying them for their kids has steadily increased. So the people learning to drive now (16-20) have had smartphones in their lives 5-8yrs, and might have owned their own for some of that time.   Older drivers grew up driving before smartphones so got practice driving without that particular distraction.

Again, just a guess.

[Rich]

My guess is cheap gas+ smartphones+population increase

[Soup DeVille]

My GUESS is that the smartphone IS to blame. The difference from years previous is the age groups of those having issues.

Out west and many other areas, 16yrs old is when a person starts driving. East coast seems to be different, people are generally older because public transportation makes a car not as "necessary". So maybe 18-20??

So the first iPhone came out in 2007, android followed a year or two later to start to pick up in traction. The people buying them for their kids has steadily increased. So the people learning to drive now (16-20) have had smartphones in their lives 5-8yrs, and might have owned their own for some of that time.   Older drivers grew up driving before smartphones so got practice driving without that particular distraction.

Again, just a guess.

Interesting perspective on this. Maybe.

Anyways, most of us learned how to navigate along with learning how to drive. There was no other choice really; driving involved knowing where you were going and how to get there.

A lot of people now use some form of GPS nav more or less all the time; oh sure, we may know how to get to the pizza place down the street still, but in general a lot of people use the nav for anything even slightly outside their comfort zone. This allows people to in part time down their situational awareness; they don't need to know where hey are, or even how they got to where they are. With the rotating maps it's not even immediately clear which direction you may be heading.

I think that being able to switch off this part of the brain that is used for navigating also reduces the more immediate situational awareness. It may be just confirmation bias on my part, but it seems that people who rely heavily on GPS also seem to be less aware of their situation in traffic.

[Soup DeVille]

I would say that it's definitely due to brain dead idiots texting while driving. From personal experience.

The biggest effect I see in regards to that is people texting at red lights and then not moving when it's time to move.

[Byteme]

What do you guys make of this?  I read that traffic fatalities in Connecticut are up 45% this year over last.  The article below is absolute garbage, but I think this must have something to do with distracted driving by people paying more attention to their stupid cellphones than to the road.

I think the reason is buried in this article from Newsweek.    "Past NSC research has indicated that alcohol, speed and distracted driving are the  three major causes of fatalities on the road, contributing to 30.8, 30 and 26 percent of motor-vehicle deaths respectively."  The article discusses the rise in traffic deaths in 2015, but I think the information is useful in answering your question.

Over 25% of motor vehicle deaths caused by distracted driving?  I'd be willing to bet that figure is a lot higher than it was a little as 5 years ago. 

We really need to pass some tough laws regarding the use of electronic devices while driving and ruthlessly enforce them.   


Last year, the U.S. had the highest one-year percentage increase in traffic deaths in half a century, according to  2015 data released Wednesday by the National Safety Council (NSC). Initial estimates, which may be revised when more information becomes available, indicate that 38,300 people were killed on U.S. roads in 2015, and roughly 4.4 million sustained injuries that resulted in medical consultations. The number of deaths rose 8 percent from 2014, compared with a less than 0.5 percent increase between 2013 and 2014 and a 3 percent drop the previous year. 

"We haven't seen a jump like this in 50 years," says Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the NSC. "It's a big change. This is not statistically insignificant. And we're talking about human lives."

The NSC identifies an improving economy as a possible cause for the increase, citing factors like lower unemployment and cheaper gas, which usually combine to mean more miles driven. During recession periods, people don't drive to work as much or take as many vacations, since they have less discretionary income, Hersman says, and fatalities usually fall.

Try Newsweek for only $1.25 per week

"This is really the first year kind of coming out of the recession that we saw a jump as big as the drops when we were coming into the recession on a year-over-year increase," Hersman says. The number of U.S. traffic fatalities dropped 9 percent in 2008 when the recession began, and again 2009. In August the  NSC released estimates for the first half of 2015, which already showed it was on track to become the deadliest traffic year in recent history.

Though the number of fatalities increased overall,  some states saw significant drops, like New Mexico (20 percent), Rhode Island (13 percent) and Alaska (8 percent). The theory linking higher unemployment to lower fatalities seems consistent with the situation in Alaska and New Mexico, which had some of the highest rates of unemployment as of December 2015. Alaska saw a 0.1 percent increase in unemployment between December 2014 and December 2015 to 6.5 percent, and New Mexico saw the biggest increase of any state, rising from 6 to 6.7 percent. Some of the states with the largest increases in fatalities saw big drops in unemployment during the same period, including Oregon, Georgia and South Carolina. But Rhode Island had the  largest reduction in unemployment rate of any state and still saw a large drop in fatalities. The  overall U.S. unemployment rate fell from 6.6 percent in January 2014 to 5 percent by the end of 2015.


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Neither the sheer number of miles driven nor a change in population seem to fully explain the jump in 2015. Motor-vehicle mileage increased by 3.5 percent between 2014 and 2015. The annual mileage death rate in 2015 was 1.22 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, up 5 percent from the previous year. Meanwhile, the annual population death rate rose by 7 percent to 11.87 deaths per 100,000 people.

"We don't know with a lot of detail what the causality is. That information comes out later," Hersman says, explaining that data from police reports, autopsies and other sources help determine some of the factors involved. Past NSC research has indicated that alcohol, speed and distracted driving are the  three major causes of fatalities on the road, contributing to 30.8, 30 and 26 percent of motor-vehicle deaths respectively.

The costs involved in motor-vehicle deaths, injuries and property damage—including "wage and productivity losses, medical expenses, administrative expenses, employer costs and property damage"—came to an estimated $412.1 billion in 2015. Because of changes to the NSC's calculation and categorization methods, it says it wouldn't be appropriate to compare the costs or the number of injuries to those in previous years.
"These numbers are serving notice: Americans take their safety on the roadways for granted," Hersman is quoted as saying in the NSC's  press release. "Driving a car is one of the riskiest activities any of us undertake, in spite of decades of vehicle design improvements and traffic safety advancements. Engage your defensive driving skills and stay alert so we can reverse this trend in 2016."

[AutobahnSHO]

I think that being able to switch off this part of the brain that is used for navigating also reduces the more immediate situational awareness. It may be just confirmation bias on my part, but it seems that people who rely heavily on GPS also seem to be less aware of their situation in traffic.

I think so.

[Soup DeVille]

I think so.

Common sense in some ways would seem to indicate the opposite; one less distraction to take away from watching the traffic around you: but I really think the opposite seems to be the case. I think maybe since the nav allows for some level of passivity from the driver, it might create a sense of false security.

Or maybe it's just the ones who were bad drivers in the first place now use GPS more because they think they needed it more. I don't know.

[Byteme]

I think that being able to switch off this part of the brain that is used for navigating also reduces the more immediate situational awareness. It may be just confirmation bias on my part, but it seems that people who rely heavily on GPS also seem to be less aware of their situation in traffic.

I don't think it's switching off any part of the brain, I think it's just people paying more attention to something inside the car (GPS) instead of what's outside the car. 

[giant_mtb]

Common sense in some ways would seem to indicate the opposite; one less distraction to take away from watching the traffic around you: but I really think the opposite seems to be the case. I think maybe since the nav allows for some level of passivity from the driver, it might create a sense of false security.

Or maybe it's just the ones who were bad drivers in the first place now use GPS more because they think they needed it more. I don't know.

A bit of both, depending on the person.  When somebody has a nav screen right in front of them shouting directions at them, it takes away a lot of aspects of just simply figuring it out, or at least "feeling" it out with a sense of direction.  "In one mile, take exit 42 for I-96 east" takes away all the thought out of it...you just have to look for exit 42 in about one minute. 

On my way back from Chicago this weekend, I got screwed up in some construction/detours and ended up going West instead of north.  I had my nav muted cause that bitch kept interrupting my music.  The nav was pretty helpful in figuring out how to get back on the right track, but 90% of it was just simply following the signs for the detour/alternate route I ended up needing to take.  Also, I'm so used to highway 41 that I instinctively followed the signs for 41 instead of 43, so that was totally my fault. 

[veeman]

Connecticut is/was much more hot and humid this summer compared with last year.  Maybe that has something to do with it?  People tend to be more irritable when it's unbearably hot and humid.

[Raza]

Common sense in some ways would seem to indicate the opposite; one less distraction to take away from watching the traffic around you: but I really think the opposite seems to be the case. I think maybe since the nav allows for some level of passivity from the driver, it might create a sense of false security.

Or maybe it's just the ones who were bad drivers in the first place now use GPS more because they think they needed it more. I don't know.

I agree that over reliance on GPS can probably somewhat leave the brain less up to the task.

I also think this like multifunction "infotainment" systems make drivers feel like they can devote less attention to the road--texting and stuff is safe since it's through your car's screen, right?

[12,000 RPM]

Most cars on the road are really old though, and most people don't have aftermarket stereos. People are just shitty and on their phones all the time.

Gonna keep saying it- autonomous vehicles will be a great thing. 99% of people on the road do not want to/don't like driving. Everyone will be safer if they don't have to.

[dazzleman]

Interesting comments so far.  I tend to think that fatalities are increasing as a result of (a) greater amounts of distracted driving, as people get more and more addicted to their smartphones and less and less able to tune them out when necessary; and (b) the effect of having cars do too much for the driver, allowing the driver to become disengaged or put his brain on autopilot during the drive.

[Raza]

These new auto-braking commercials seem to really actually encourage people to not pay attention. Go ahead, don't look before you back up, close your eyes and sing along to your favorite song, the Passat will save you.

[MrH]

These new auto-braking commercials seem to really actually encourage people to not pay attention. Go ahead, don't look before you back up, close your eyes and sing along to your favorite song, the Passat will save you.

Hot take alert:  They're conditioning and encouraging all drivers to not pay attention, and then the federal government will selectively turn off the features for those they want to take out

[AutobahnSHO]

Hot take alert:  They're conditioning and encouraging all drivers to not pay attention, and then the federal government will selectively turn off the features for those they want to take out

[12,000 RPM]

These new auto-braking commercials seem to really actually encourage people to not pay attention. Go ahead, don't look before you back up, close your eyes and sing along to your favorite song, the Passat will save you.

Yea It's disheartening to see automakers flat out celebrate shitty driving. "Paying attention is hard. We got you "

Like I keep saying, can't wait for autonomous driving to free these folks from the shackles of driving.

[giant_mtb]

Oh, but they put fine print at the bottom!

"Vehicle cannot drive itself, but has automated driving features. The system will remind the driver frequently to keep hands on the steering wheel. Always observe safe driving practices and obey all road traffic regulations."

[Soup DeVille]

Yea It's disheartening to see automakers flat out celebrate shitty driving. "Paying attention is hard. We got you "

Like I keep saying, can't wait for autonomous driving to free these folks from the shackles of driving.

Somebody's gonna figure out a way around that. Like by tie wrapping a rubber glove with a hot dog inside it to the steering wheel or something.

[CaminoRacer]

Somebody's gonna figure out a way around that. Like by tie wrapping a rubber glove with a hot dog inside it to the steering wheel or something.

Yes, it takes much less effort to find a creative work-around solution than it does to just drive a damn car.

[Soup DeVille]

Yes, it takes much less effort to find a creative work-around solution than it does to just drive a damn car.

It's going to happen. Nothing motivates people more than the idea they can be lazy. People will work real hard at it.