Texans spent much of 2020 stuck at home. So why did so many people die in car crashes?
Believe it or not, there are times when traffic congestion actually can keep you safe.
This is not one of those times. And, safety experts say COVID-19 is to blame.
The number of people killed on roads in Texas and the rest of the United States has spiked during the past year, even though millions of people spent much of that time stuck in their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Safety experts say the main reason for the statistical bump is that fewer people are on the roads, which leaves lots more room for motorists to speed — then lose control and crash.
In Texas, 3,893 people were killed in automobile crashes during 2020, up from 3,623 deaths in 2019. That increase occurred even though traffic volumes were about 50% below normal for several months of the year, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
Nationwide, during the third quarter of 2020, traffic fatalities jumped 13.1% to 11,260 deaths, compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the U.S. Transportation Department. During the first nine months of 2020 — the most up-to-date nationwide figures available — 28,190 people died on U.S. roads, up 4.6% from the same period in 2019.
Precise numbers on how many of those 2020 deaths were actually caused by speeding weren’t yet available. Just before the pandemic, in 2019 speeding was a primary cause in 20% of fatal crashes in Texas, according to transportation department records.
Even before the pandemic began, safety groups were worried about a surge in speed-related fatalities.
The nonprofit Governors Highway Safety Association is asking Congress and President Joe Biden to include funding for speed limit reduction and enforcement programs in the next multi-year transportation and infrastructure bill, which is currently being drawn up in Washington, D.C.
“While millions of families are focused on remaining safe by staying home and wearing masks during the pandemic, this relentless attention to safety needs to extend to the driver’s seat and our nation’s roads as well,” Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the nonprofit Governors Highway Safety Association, said in an email. “We can’t afford to compound the staggering loss of life from COVID-19 with additional preventable deaths caused by unsafe driving behaviors like speeding, driving under the influence or distracted and not wearing a seat belt.”
Nationally, speeding was a major factor in 26% of road fatalities, according to the National Safety Council.
The National Transportation Safety Board — which recently launched an investigation into a 133-car pileup that killed six people on a stretch of Interstate 35W in Fort Worth — issued a report in 2017 showing that the problem was even worse than that.
The NTSB report determined that speed was a factor in 31% of traffic fatalities nationwide from 2005-2014. The independent federal agency made numerous recommendations — including that federal officials encourage states to step up speed enforcement, and that states consider using cameras or other technology for enforcement of speed limit violations.
“The relationship between speed and crash involvement is complex, and it is affected by factors such as road type, driver age, alcohol impairment, and roadway characteristics like curvature, grade, width, and adjacent land use,” NTSB members wrote in their report.
“In contrast, the relationship between speed and injury severity is consistent and direct. Higher vehicle speeds lead to larger changes in velocity in a crash, and these velocity changes are closely linked to injury severity.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Texans spent much of 2020 stuck at home. So why did so many people die in car crashes?."
