Posted on 07/05/2021 1:35:04 PM PDT by CheshireTheCat
In the weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, many thousands of Americans took to the roads and highways in lieu of flight. Some opted to drive because their vacation or business air travel was cancelled; others because they were understandably afraid of subsequent hijackings.
Some years later, a group of Cornell University economists determined that after the terror attacks,
in the last three months of [2001] fear of flying revved up car use and caused a second toll of lives in US roads. In addition, the inconvenience of tighter airport security after 9/11 may have further encouraged substitution to road travel.
It’s tragic, but unsurprising: one would generally expect that with a sudden jump in the number of vehicles on the road, a commensurate increase in accidents would be observed. And indeed, that is what the researchers found even after taking into account “time trends, weather, road conditions, and other factors.” The additional death toll on highways as a secondary effect of the terror attacks numbered over 2,000, with many non-fatal injuries as well.
But as initially reported in early 2021 and presently congealing with additional data, the opposite is also true. Despite having driven much less owing to lockdowns–staying at home out of fear, or simply because there were less places to go and fewer things to do–the National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that over 42,000 Americans died in motor vehicle accidents in 2020.
That’s 8% more than the previous year. It’s also the highest death toll since 2007, and the first increase in four years. Worse yet, the rate of fatalities per 100 million driven miles (a normalized measure) in 2020 leapt 24% from the previous year, which is the largest annual increase since statistics began being tracked in 1924...
(Excerpt) Read more at aier.org ...
Because when the car leaves the road at a high rate of speed THAT IS an accident.
>>Despite having driven much less owing to lockdowns–staying at home out of fear, or simply because there were less places to go and fewer things to do–the National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that over 42,000 Americans died in motor vehicle accidents in 2020.
Drivers were routinely driving the highways in the 90-100+ speed range. DAILY.
California set a new record for ticket violations over 100 MPH last year.
No traffic = high speed.
speed kills
Masks.
People love to play with statistics, write a headline based on their statistical findings, then push the meme until panic sets in; law makers then step in a pass a new law. Rinse and repeat until election time, then brag about the laws passed.
My thoughts. Before the pandemic a majority of the miles driven were by conscientious people going to and from work. They’re not speeding or doing silly stuff. They are intent on living their lives. Let’s say the cars are normalized to 100 on the road. Of those, let’s say five percent, five cars, are being driven by people who are constitutionally disposed to reckless behavior. Those five are pretty much speed regulated by the flow of traffic in normal conditions. They don’t have as much opportunity to engage in risky behavior because they are stuck behind people driving to and from work at the speed limit.
Now, we have a pandemic. Most businesses are shut. The number of cars on the road is drastically reduced. But those drivers who were reckless probably weren’t employed. They were doing whatever they wanted. Now, they are not speed limited by the other traffic. And, they represent a significantly larger percentage of the drivers on the road. They are going to encounter other risky drivers at a greater rate. There will be more road rage. More races. More Darwinistic behavior.
If, during the pandemic, the accident rate had dropped. It would mean that there are many fewer risk takers in our society than there really is. A greater death rate merely confirms there are plenty of people out there with some sort of dispensation towards being stupid behind the wheel.
“There is no physiological link, ceteris paribus, between infection and an increased propensity to imperil oneself.”
I’ve read some things lately that cast doubt upon the assertion that all things are equal. Apparently, brain injuries can alter brain chemistry in a way that results in “an increased propensity to imperil oneself.”
If injuries can cause that, perhaps some illnesses could as well.
Could the fact that marijuana is effectively legal have something to do with it?
An detailed breakdown of the various causes of the accidents would be quite instructive.
Or everyone could just make up whatever they like.
Going by this report, if not for Covid-19 lock downs, with fewer drivers on the roads, would Tiger Woods’ drive had been made at a lower speed and his accident avoided; I wonder.
No, an accident would being hit by an asteroid. Your vehicle losing control and leaving the roadway is not an accident, as the causes of which could be inattention, neglect, DUI, excessive speed for conditions etc. None of these are an “Accident”.
Obviously the only people on the roads were the ones that foolishly ignored the “2 weeks to flatten the curve”™.
This proves they don’t care about Grandmas life or their own, so of course they drove recklessly.
Or they were out in their car without a mask, causing them to succumb to the Kung Flu and crash.
Because it COULDN'T possibly be that with less drivers on the road...the people on the road who were JAGOFF drivers to begin with had more boldness and motivation to even be MORE of a JAGOFF driver. Nah...couldn't be.
The speeds people were traveling during the “plandemic” in my area of Missouri was astonishing. At the time I figured police were not patrolling and ticketing people due to not wanting to stop people and “catch” the CCP virus. There were less people on the road and the few that were on it were speeding at above normal “speeding.” 60 zone.. they were doing 85+ and cops were absent from their “normal” speed trap zones.
I smell much more pot in the air at traffic lights than I ever have in my life (several times a week now) and pot isn’t legal in this state yet.
But I guess that is the passengers smoking and not the driver. (S)he is in the driver’s seat and apparently the pot fumes that are smelt on the sidewalk and in the surrounding cars have no effect on the driver.
How many of those accidents involve illegal aliens?
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