Through the pandemic, California officers famous a worrying improve in driving deaths at the same time as fewer individuals used the roads.
Now, as extra drivers are again on the roads, there are indicators that the harmful driving has continued.
Automobile crash deaths rose 17% from 2018 to 2022 within the state, in accordance with a new report from ConsumerAffairs, a platform for client information.
And the deadliest stretches of California roads had been all in Southern California, the info confirmed.
“It’s a disaster that must be reversed,” Timothy Weisberg, a spokesperson for the California Workplace of Visitors Security, informed ConsumerAffairs. “Through the pandemic, we noticed extra of these harmful driving behaviors.”
The 5 deadliest stretches are listed beneath.
- Interstate 15 in San Bernardino County: 48 deaths in 2022, up from 33 in 2018
- Interstate 10 in Riverside County: 31 deaths in 2022, up from 25 in 2018
- Interstate 5 In San Diego County; 21 deaths in 2022, up from 19 in 2018
- Interstate 5 in Orange County: 16 deaths in 2022, up from 14 in 2018
- U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara County: 15 deaths in 2022, up from 7 in 2018
General, San Bernardino County was the state’s deadliest massive county, with greater than 20 fatalities per 100,000 residents in 2022, the info from the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration confirmed.
Rushing was usually the wrongdoer. In 2018, dashing was concerned in 26% of lethal automotive crashes. By 2022, that determine had risen to 31%, in accordance with the report.
On the identical time, drunk driving was concerned in fewer deadly crashes: from 24% in 2018 to 13% in 2022.
The deadliest hours to be on the highway had been 6 p.m. to midnight, throughout which 36% of lethal crashes in 2022 occurred.
Los Angeles, in the meantime, faces its personal battle with rising site visitors and pedestrian fatalities. Automobile crashes killed extra individuals within the metropolis than homicides did in 2023.
The statistics signify “untenable circumstances which can be threatening our group,” then-L.A. Police Chief Michel Moore stated at a information convention in January.
The rise in harmful driving has additionally led state officers to think about pace cameras in cities throughout California.
A pilot program introduced in 2023 will permit the cameras in six cities: Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, Lengthy Seaside and San Francisco.
Occasions employees writers Rachel Uranga and Libor Jany contributed to this report
