SERIOUS CAR CRASHES INCREASED DURING COVID
A recent report in the Star Tribune reported that car accident fatalities and serious injuries increased during COVID. Here is an excerpt of the article:
Roads in the Twin Cities metro area became far more dangerous after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Motorists drove faster, eschewed seat belts and got behind the wheel while impaired by alcohol or drugs, according to newly released state data.
Crashes resulting in serious injury or death spiked between 2020 and 2022. This effectively erased a decade of steady declines. Traffic deaths statewide hit 488 in 2021 and 446 last year, after five straight years below 400. In the same period, crashes that left people seriously injured jumped from 696 to 951, a 36% increase, according to the state data.
Traffic safety experts and advocates say they hope the two-year period was an anomaly. They are working toward an ambitious goal of cutting Twin Cities traffic fatalities from 182 to 72 by 2025. There is some encouraging news: 2023 is off to a better start. Crashes resulting in serious injury or death are trending down.
Wrecks involving motorcyclists rose slightly while fatal and serious injury crashes involving bicyclists remained nearly flat from 2020 to 2022, the data said. The article also discusses a new Minnesota program called ‘Toward Zero Deaths,’ which has been helping to contain the problem. Click here to read the whole article.
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