American CARNAGE: 46,000 road deaths in 2022, a 22% rise on pre-pandemic levels trends now
More than 46,000 people were killed on US roads last year, a 22 percent rise on pre-pandemic levels, according to road safety experts who link the rise to more motorists mixing drugs and booze.
The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that 46,270 people died last year, a slight dip from 46,980 in 2020, but higher than before Covid-19, which emptied the roads but led to more speeding and risk-taking.
Lorraine Martin, NSC president and CEO, said the carnage amounted to a 'regional jet carrying 100 people crash, killing everyone on board every day' and urged drivers to belt up and reduce speeds.
The figures come after another weekend of carnage on America's roads, including an alleged drunk driver crashing his Nissan Armada in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday while his eight-month-old daughter was in the backseat.
Martin blamed America's increasingly dangerous roads on 'stress, social isolation and substance misuse' brought about by the pandemic that continues even as the outbreak wanes.
The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that 46,270 people died last year, a slight dip from 46,980 in 2020, but higher than before Covid-19
A government study late last year found that more than half the people injured or killed in traffic crashes had one or more drugs, or alcohol, in their bloodstreams
She cited a government study showing that nearly 55 percent of crash victims tested positive for alcohol, cannabis, or opioids.
'We bring those impairments with us when we get behind the wheel,' Martin told the BBC.
The large study by US highway safety regulators late last year found that more
