National Effort to Reduce Traffic Fatalities

Preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration show that vehicle miles traveled in 2021 increased by about 325 billion miles, or about 11.2%, as compared to 2020.

Data estimates show the fatality rate for 2021 was 1.33 fatalities per 100 million VMT, marginally down from 1.34 fatalities in 2020. While the fatality rate continued to rise in the first quarter, it declined in the other three quarters of 2021, compared to 2020.

Additionally, the traffic fatalities in the following categories showed relatively large increases in 2021, as compared to 2020:

Fatalities in multi-vehicle crashes up 16%
Fatalities on urban roads up 16%
Fatalities among drivers 65 and older up 14%
Pedestrian fatalities up 13%
Fatalities in crashes involving at least one large truck up 13%
Daytime fatalities up 11%
Motorcyclist fatalities up 9%
Bicyclist fatalities up 5%
Fatalities in speeding-related crashes up 5%
Fatalities in police-reported, alcohol-involvement crashes up 5%

https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/early-estimate-2021-traffic-fatalities

Miles traveled goes up 11%, traffic fatalities go up about the same amount.

The sarcastic response is if you want fewer fatalities, you need fewer miles traveled.

Otherwise, everything needs to be about 15% safer, somehow, just to stay even?

Problem solved

Sometimes I wonder about using rail to transport both people and their vehicles, for long distance travel, land ferries so to speak. It would be a massive upgrade to rail even to go back the pre-freeway era of regular reliable passenger service.

Probably for traffic safety purposes, most vehicle traffic is local.

Public transit in general needs to be greatly enhanced all over the country in addition to high speed rail. We don’t all need to drive everywhere we go

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Public transit in general needs to be greatly enhanced all over the country in addition to high speed rail. We don’t all need to drive everywhere we go

Seems like a valid point.

I wonder what a "enhanced*" public transit system in Metro Detroit would look like?

*Enhanced meaning one which would significantly reduce private vehicle traffic in the metro area.

Wouldn't it need to be running from point to point almost all the time so that a person would rather use it, with little loss in travel time, verses using a vehicle of their own?

Just read a blog about this, seems like the first "want" by people who use busses is more frequent busses. Reminds me of the old bus system at MSU (does it still exist) where during peak times there was a bus every 5 to 10 minutes.

Another suggestion was bus only lanes & other bus only options, which they have in places in A2 to expedite bus travel.

Metro Detroit is a really tough example due to the sheer size of the sprawl and its design around taking cars literally everywhere. But, it needs to start somewhere…. I wouldn’t think too much initially about how people get to and from the grocery store. But mass transit from the suburbs to the city center and all of the other job hubs (midtown, Southfield, etc) would be a good place to focus initial efforts.

And I’m largely thinking rail, not busses.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Metro Detroit is a really tough example due to the sheer size of the sprawl and its design around taking cars literally everywhere. But, it needs to start somewhere…. I wouldn’t think too much initially about how people get to and from the grocery store. But mass transit from the suburbs to the city center and all of the other job hubs (midtown, Southfield, etc) would be a good place to focus initial efforts.

And I’m largely thinking rail, not busses.

That is what is hard.  

It isn't like a majority of the work transportation is from the "burbs" to "the city", the work locations are all over the place. So are "the burbs", with some significant amounts of people coming in from well beyond the freeway belts.

A system that moves someone from New Hudson to Dearborn in a timely manner while moving someone from South Lyon to Warren looks difficult.  Anth there are tens of thousands of paths that need to be provided all in about the same amount of time as driving themselves and with multiple trips all day long. Maybe busses lined up at every stop would be more help than it seems?

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Public transit in general needs to be greatly enhanced all over the country in addition to high speed rail. We don’t all need to drive everywhere we go

Cars are becoming unaffordable for most people and public transit in the U.S. is horrible. Most local and state governments have done a lousy job of creating effective public transportation. This country is a fucking mess.

Turtleneck wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Public transit in general needs to be greatly enhanced all over the country in addition to high speed rail. We don’t all need to drive everywhere we go

Cars are becoming unaffordable for most people and public transit in the U.S. is horrible. Most local and state governments have done a lousy job of creating effective public transportation. This country is a fucking mess.

Private business doesn't see creating "public transportation" on a city-wide scale as a money maker. Just another indictment of the failures of markets & capitialisum.

The Big Three did a lot of effective lobbying in the late 40's through the 70's to effectively wipe out any chance of mass transit.

They rolled into state capitals across the country coordinating their efforts with state politicians selling construction jobs and new suburban housing. Detroit and later Milwaukee were two cities with electric bus systems that went away when the interstates got built thru those cities. More workers went to the suburbs and started driving.

Consumer's Energy (then called Consumer's Power) partnered with The Interurban Company and had third rail electric train that would go 60-70MPH. They had a line line ran from the Southern edge of GR to Kalamazoo (along US 131 current route) with plans to make GR the hub with additional lines running from GR to Holland along with a Lakeshore line connecting Grand Haven and terminating in Muskegon. Jackson County had an Interurban that was the hub running trains to aa, Battle Creek and Lansing.

Even before WW2 the Big 3 recognized they'd have a lot more customers without an interurban commuter train as did the railroads, The Big Three needed the railroads neither needed competition from a passenger dedicated electric rail line.

Try to find funding and dedicated lanes for mass transit in 2023's political climate.

GRR Spartan wrote:The Big Three did a lot of effective lobbying in the late 40's through the 70's to effectively wipe out any chance of mass transit.

They rolled into state capitals across the country coordinating their efforts with state politicians selling construction jobs and new suburban housing. Detroit and later Milwaukee were two cities with electric bus systems that went away when the interstates got built thru those cities. More workers went to the suburbs and started driving.

Consumer's Energy (then called Consumer's Power) partnered with The Interurban Company and had third rail electric train that would go 60-70MPH. They had a line line ran from the Southern edge of GR to Kalamazoo (along US 131 current route) with plans to make GR the hub with additional lines running from GR to Holland along with a Lakeshore line connecting Grand Haven and terminating in Muskegon. Jackson County had an Interurban that was the hub running trains to aa, Battle Creek and Lansing.

Even before WW2 the Big 3 recognized they'd have a lot more customers without an interurban commuter train as did the railroads, The Big Three needed the railroads neither needed competition from a passenger dedicated electric rail line.

Try to find funding and dedicated lanes for mass transit in 2023's political climate.

I guess I should have said "private business with political pull". With the myth that private business does it all by themselves having been drummed into our heads we often don't see how governments enable some businesses and handicap others.