Pic taken from roadway.report, an interactive map of all known roadway deaths in the USA.

Fatalities resulting from motor vehicle crashes are the third largest cause of accidental deaths in the United States. On average for 2024 there were over 100 deaths per day on US roads.

  • Brokkr@lemmy.world
    392·
    10 hours ago

    This graph would be identical for nearly any cause of death. Yes, we should drive less, and if we must drive then it should be safer, but this is just a graph of population, which itself is highly correlated with people dieing.

    • Jentu@lemmy.mlEnglish
      13·
      10 hours ago

      Other causes of death would likely look less like spiderwebs since it’s just a population density map by counties, but this one is specifically along roadways. The interesting difference between a population density map and this map specifically is you can see the long stretches of roads in the middle of nowhere and how dangerous they can be.

      • Maeve@kbin.earth
        7·
        9 hours ago

        I wasn’t really surprised by that. My county is corrupt to the core, and intentional hit and runs are written up and reported as accidental, unless you aren’t paying or related to people.

      • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.techEnglish
        4·
        9 hours ago

        that’s crazy to think about, you think of cities being way worse, but I guess it does make sense.

        Rural people drive faster, and there are very few pedestrians.

        Smaller cities are light on pedestrians and very car focused, meaning those few pedestrians have drivers who are less used to pedestirans, and drivers still drive like they’re on highways.

        I was in Albuquerque recently, and I have never felt less safe as a pedestrian. You have people swerving through intersections, being surprised we were walking on the walk signal, upset with us, we had to walk around parked cars, into traffic, it was horrible.

        • TiredTiger@lemmy.ml
          6·
          8 hours ago

          Rural areas also have less well-maintained roads, poorer lighting, and more wildlife that may run into the road, in addition to requiring more driving because everything is further apart.

        • Drewfro66@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
          2·
          7 hours ago

          I remember reading an article a while back on how the vast majority of pedestrian deaths - even before accounting for population density - are on rural arterials during the evening and night. Something like 75% or thereabouts.

          And to be clear, “rural arterial” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s outside of city limits, it’s a category of road that has no sidewalks, often no streetlights, high throughput, but still has auto-oriented businesses or homes fronting it. A road that was never meant for pedestrians but sometimes people need to walk alongside regardless.