U.S. Road-Death Rates Remain Near 10-Year High

 

Auto industry points to smartphones and distracted driving, lawmakers look at the role of alcohol and opioids

 

Source: WSJ

By Adrienne Roberts

Feb. 15, 2018

 

U.S. motor-vehicle deaths remained near decade-high levels in 2017, an indication U.S. roadways aren’t getting any safer, even as auto makers equip cars with more safety gear and many other developed countries make notable strides in reducing highway fatalities.

 

The National Safety Council said Thursday traffic-related fatalities hit 40,100 last year, the second year in a row the 40,000 mark was surpassed.

 

Motor-vehicle deaths had steadily declined in the decade leading to 2016. But a surge in driver distraction, increased miles driven and other factors have driven the closely watched number up at an alarming rate.

 

The data, which differs from figures set to be released later this year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, comes as cars themselves appear to be getting safer. More than 20% of the 17.5 million vehicles produced for the 2017 model year were equipped with so-called Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, a suite of technology that includes adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping steering aides and autonomous braking that helps avoid collisions, according to WardsAuto.com.

 

Just two years ago, fewer than 8% of vehicles were equipped with those features, WardsAuto.com says.

 

Auto makers, seeking to boost safety ratings or grab a competitive advantage, also are building more vehicles with more semi-autonomous driving features as standard equipment. And the price of optional ADAS packages has been declining.

 

Safer cars don’t necessarily result in safer roads, though.

 

The National Safety Council, an Itasca, Ill.-based nonprofit, estimates traffic deaths declined less than 1% in 2017 following a surprising 6% spike in 2016. Deborah Hersman, NSC’s chief executive, said alcohol and high speeds play a disproportionate role in fatal crashes, and half of deaths involve a driver or passenger who isn’t wearing a seat belt.

 

“The same things that have been killing us for decades are still killing us,” Ms. Hersman said. Vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, motorcyclists and young drivers, saw a disproportionate increase in fatalities last year, she said.

 

Many automotive executives have recently pointed to the role of drivers’ increased use of smartphones in making roads less safe. While analysts and government agencies have trouble tracking the specific impact that in-cabin distractions play in rising fatality rates, car companies are increasingly adding features such as better voice commands and blue-tooth connectivity aimed at encouraging drivers to put their hands on the wheel and keep their eyes on the road.

 

NHTSA recently reported more than 37,000 people died in vehicle crashes in the U.S. in 2016, up 5.6% from a year earlier.

 

The NSC’s fatality numbers are higher because the organization counts deaths that don’t take place on public roadways, such as a rollover incident in a driveway or a crash in a parking lot; and it includes deaths occurring within a year of an accident.

 

Lawmakers Wednesday invoked the opioid crisis and legalization of marijuana in certain states at a congressional hearing that looked in part at the role of drugs in impaired driving and traffic fatalities. One lawmaker cited a study finding drugs are present more than alcohol in known test results of fatally-injured drivers.

 

NHTSA in March will launch a campaign against drug-impaired driving, which it has identified as key to reducing traffic fatalities. “We know that many people switch between use of alcohol and illicit drugs, or consume them together, and we need to consider both,” Heidi King, the agency’s de facto chief, said during the hearing before a House panel.

 

The figures are troubling when stacked againsttrends in other countries, including Japan, Germany and the U.K. -nations that have been cutting road-fatality rates at a brisker pace than in the U.S.

 

During the period spanning 2007 to 2015, when the U.S. cut its fatality rate by 20%, many other nations registered more sizeable declines. Sweden, for instance, cut its traffic fatalities in half during the period, while the U.K.’s numbers declined 44%, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

 

As of 2015, the last year for which OECD data is available, there were 109 traffic fatalities per 1 million people in the U.S., compared with Germany’s 29 per million and the U.K.’s 44. A University of Michigan report published earlier this week estimated 1.3% of all U.S. deaths in 2015 were traffic related.

 

The NSC estimates recent increases would have driven the U.S. number closer to 123 fatalities per million people as of the end of 2017, a number that rivals those emerging markets like India, according to the OESC’s figures.

 

In an interview last week, Anders Lie, a traffic safety specialist with Sweden’s Transport Administration, said many developed nations have accomplished sustained traffic-fatality improvements by lowering speed limits and changing road construction, including adding more roundabouts. Mr. Lie also said more rigid laws related to drunken driving play a role.

 

Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, said the size of the U.S. and its mix of rural and urban areas make it difficult for the U.S. to reduce traffic fatalities at the same pace as densely populated countries with widespread access to public transportation. America’s rural communities face a disproportionate risk of traffic fatalities; the NSC estimates that while 19% of the U.S. population lives in rural communities, 57% of traffic deaths occur there.

 

The NSC’s Ms. Hersman says drunken driving remains an epidemic in the U.S., where legal thresholds for blood-alcohol levels tend to be higher than in other countries. “We tend to think that we solved the drunk driving problem, but we haven’t even gotten close,” she said. “It kills 10,000 people every year.”

 

Some states are enacting laws similar to developed countries with low traffic fatality rates and seeing some success, Ms. Hersman said. In March, Utah passed a law that lowered drivers’ maximum blood alcohol limit to 0.05% from 0.08%-making it the strictest state in the country. Utah saw traffic fatalities decrease by 3% last year compared with 2016.