For those who assume tough climate is the worst factor on the roads this vacation season, you would possibly wish to take a more in-depth have a look at the opposite drivers.
Rushing, crimson mild operating, drowsy driving and alcohol- and marijuana-impaired driving have all soared in the course of the coronavirus pandemic, officers warn.
And auto membership AAA says these issues are worsening this Christmas season, as falling fuel costs lure extra Individuals again onto the street and COVID-19 lockdowns develop into a distant reminiscence.
AAA expects to rescue 900,000 stranded motorists as 102 million Individuals drive no less than 50 miles from dwelling on vacation journeys between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2. That’s a 2% improve from the variety of drives on the street final yr.
“Whereas the peak of the pandemic is within the rearview mirror, these damaging driving behaviors that we started to see on the onset of the pandemic will not be,” Ragina C. Ali, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman for Maryland and the District of Columbia, advised The Washington Instances.
“We’re nonetheless seeing outrageous speeds and a frequency of impaired and distracted drivers which might be claiming the lives of drivers on our roadways.”
The share of drivers who admitted getting behind the wheel after ingesting extra alcohol than the authorized restrict jumped by 24% from 2020 to 2021, the AAA Basis for Visitors Security reported this month.
That reversed a gradual decline within the basis’s annual surveys from 2018 by means of 2020, AAA stated.
Many drivers bought used to ignoring velocity limits and seatbelts as police enforcement lagged in the course of the pandemic, stated Joe Younger, spokesman for the Virginia-based Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security.
An uptick in impaired drivers consuming marijuana with alcohol and the return of extra risk-averse drivers to the roads have made the roads extra harmful this yr, he added in an electronic mail.
“Empty roads within the early months of the pandemic allowed speeds to creep up, and our analysis discovered that these journey speeds remained excessive even after site visitors patterns began to normalize,” Mr. Younger stated. “Gentle site visitors and empty roads absolutely performed a task, however there was additionally a discount in enforcement of velocity limits and different site visitors legal guidelines in lots of locations as legislation enforcement personnel have been unfold skinny.”
Visitors fatalities have risen steadily for the reason that begin of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, in accordance with the newest authorities figures.
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration estimates that 42,915 individuals died in car crashes final yr, up 10.5% from 38,824 fatalities in 2020.
That included a 14-year excessive of 968 crash fatalities in Virginia in 2021 – a rise of 14% from 2020. Virginia’s numbers are anticipated to extend once more this yr.
Bucking the nationwide development, Maryland noticed a slight decline in roadway fatalities from 573 in 2020 to 563 final yr.
Within the District, 40 individuals died in vehicle accidents in 2021, an 8% improve from 2020 and essentially the most since 54 individuals have been killed in 2007.
One of the simplest ways to keep away from turning into a statistic this vacation season is to observe defensive driving, stated Alaina Gertz, a spokeswoman for D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Division.
Which means stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks, maintaining a secure distance behind different automobiles, adjusting to dangerous climate or site visitors circumstances, and obeying the posted velocity limits, she stated in an electronic mail.
“As velocity will increase, the seriousness of a site visitors crash will increase,” Ms. Gertz stated. “Moreover, MPD has seen people put their lives and the lives of these round them in danger by getting behind the wheel whereas impaired. Whereas we would not have an actual motive as to why people make this resolution, MPD continues to implement all site visitors legal guidelines in the course of the pandemic and past.”
