Prairie State Wire

It’s a deadly dichotomy. Americans drove fewer miles in 2020 — but more died on the road.

Illinois is no exception from this grim statistic, as 1,166 people were killed in crashes in 2020. That’s a 16% increase from 2019, when 1,009 died people died, and the highest toll since 2007, when 1,248 people died on Illinois roads.

As Illinois experienced a more dangerous year on the road, it matched a national trend. According to the nonprofit National Safety Council, 42,060 people died in vehicle crashes in the United States in 2020, an 8% increase over 2019, and the first increase in four years. As in Illinois, it was the worst year nationally since 2007, when 43,945 people died on American roads.

Shaun Kildare | LinkedIn

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a Washington, D.C.-based research and advocacy group, said people who engage in riskier behavior behind the wheel were still driving in 2020 when others chose not to drive.

Advocates, as staff members refer to it, is “an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement, and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to improve road safety in the U.S. Advocates’ mission is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and contain costs.”

Shaun Kildare, the group’s senior director of research, and Tara Gill, senior director of advocacy and state legislation, offered insights on the spike in traffic deaths in Illinois and nationally, as well as efforts to try to reduce it.

Kildare, from Barrington, just outside Chicago, said he follows reports of the deadly year on Illinois roadways. As he drove to work last year, he noticed fewer vehicles out, but reports showed a rise in fatal crashes.

“Last year, the NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, had done some reviews of the initial data when it was coming out and they were looking at what was going on our roads,” he said. “And a lot of that was based on what we were hearing anecdotally at the state level, which was, while the roads were emptier because of stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, breakouts, other things are going on already because of the pandemic, there were a lot fewer people on the roads.

“But they were giving out a lot more speeding tickets,” Kildare said. “And we were seeing that repeatedly in news stories. And the agency went ahead and did a review and they were looking at what's going on and the whole point finding that despite the fact that we had reduced the number of vehicles on the road, and we had a reduced number of miles being traveled, we still had a high number of fatalities.”

A deeper dive in the data revealed higher speeds and reduced seat-belt use, he said.

“They were finding this was associated with younger individuals, with males in rural areas, especially the younger ones, which is generally associated with this kind of behavior,” Kildare said.

In addition, by checking alcohol and drug tests from people admitted into hospitals after crashes, it was determined that drivers were using both before and/or while driving.

“And so, all those things together, what really happened was there were fewer people on the road, but the people that stayed on the road tended to be the riskier parts of our population,” he said. “And so, that's a lot of where that came from, at least in the initial data.”

Kildare said another factor involved the roads having less traffic. That led to some drivers going faster. Together, it was a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said, and a recipe for disaster.

In addition, during the pandemic, law enforcement tried to reduce direct contacts with the public.

“Is it worth risking lives for those interactions? You haven't seen any details on it yet, but there was a question that obviously come up,” he said.

Gill said Illinois lawmakers are aware of the need for ways to reduce the deadly toll. She said a bill known as the Complete Streets Act would increase safety, along with other travel issues such as access and mobility.

“It would be to advance complete programs in Illinois and takes into account all road users and pedestrians, bicyclists, everybody that's going to be in the road environment,” Gill said. “And then, they incorporate considerations for their safety in roadway planning, design, construction and maintenance. Complete Streets and some other programs are based on safe system approach.

“And the safe system, it recognizes that humans make mistakes and that we have a tolerance limit for injury and then seeks to change the way we design, among other factors, to not only limit conflict, but reduce the forces that occur when those conflicts happen,” she said. “Complete Streets harnesses the safe system approach. So, getting that bill across the finish line would be very helpful.”

Kildare said existing technology can help drivers avoid serious crashes and reduce fatalities.

“Advocates really look at all the technological solutions to this and what is available,” he said. “You know, making sure that people are wearing seat belts, making sure that we're enforcing speed limits, automated speed enforcement.”

Gill said traffic cameras lower the number of crashes and fatalities.

“Advocates is a big proponent of properly implemented automated enforcement program,” she said. “The research is really good that speed and red light cameras reduce dangerous driving behaviors, curb crashes and fatalities. So, as luck would have it, we just recently on May 6 collaboratively introduce an automated enforcement checklist. Advocates, AAA, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the National Safety Council and the Governor's Highway Safety Association put out this automated enforcement checklist.”

Advanced driver assistance systems like automatic emergency braking points, detection and lane departure warning all can help reduce traffic fatalities, Gill said. She said Illinois members of Congress have been very active in advancing legislation to try to get these systems into all vehicles.

Kildare said legislators are aware of the need for action.

“And we have an opportunity right now to get ahead of it through a lot of the legislation that Tara was just mentioning, to put in place these requirements to make sure that that all road users are being afforded this protection,” he said. “We make sure that we have automatic braking on every single car; that's going to help bring down those crashes. That's going to help them bring down incidents.

“And we need to have it in every car. You don't need to have it just in the most high-end vehicles. We need to have it in every vehicle,” Kildare said. “The technologies have been out there in the for years. You know, they're testing it. We know that it's evaluated abroad and used in their vehicle rating systems. There's no reason we shouldn't have it here.”

He said one of the problems is such safety equipment is only added if other options are included, such as leather seats or enhanced stereo systems.

“Like I said, how is that related to me not wanting to drive off the road? And so, we really want to make sure that every single user is going to be afforded that detection because it is going to lift all boats,” Kildare said.

It can help reduce major accidents, such as when tired or inattentive tractor-trailer drivers come up on stopped vehicles and plow through them. Automated systems can reduce such horrific crashes, he said.

But for right now, the problem is getting worse, not better. The deadly trend is continuing in 2021, Kildare said.

He said early reports from the National Safety Council show a 6% increase in fatal crashes. As of May 13, there had been 328 people killed on Illinois roads, up from 305 on the same date in 2020.

Kildare said it’s a pattern that could be very costly in the coming months.

“If these trends in terms of risk-taking behavior stick around as we increase and as we work our way out of the pandemic, and we start to all travel back to the offices, as we start to travel again for vacation, as we start to travel for entertainment, we could have a big problem on our hands,” he said.

Here is a list of auto safety bills in Congress with sponsors or co-sponsors from Illinois:

Bills introduced in the 117th Congress:

Protecting Roadside First Responders Act – Sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL)

It requires advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) technology in new vehicles, among other provisions.

SAFE TO DRIVE Act (H.R. 762/S. 195) – Sponsors include Rep. Raja Krisnamoorthi (D-IL); Cosponsors include Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL)

Incentivizes states with federal grant money to enact and improve distracted driving laws, as well as to improve transparency in the federal grant determination process.

Safe RIDE Act (S.376/H.R.1239) – Original co-sponsors include Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Directs federal government to research the vehicle recall process with the goal of increasing the repair rate for vehicles subject to recalls.

SAFE CARS Act – Sponsors include Rep. Raja Krisnamoorthi (D-IL), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Deters the federal government from selling vehicles with an open and actionable recall to the public and requires federal agencies that lease or own vehicles with an available recall to remedy the defect.

Stop Underrides Act (S. 605/H.R. 1622) – Sponsors include Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL); Original co-sponsors include Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL)

Requires U.S. Department of Transportation to strengthen the current rear guard standard for large commercial trucks and require side and front underride guards. 

Anticipated reintroduction in the 117th Congress:

Hot Cars Act – Original co-sponsors include Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Requires occupant detection and alert technology in new vehicles to prevent “hot cars” incidents.

21st Century Smart Cars Act – Sponsored by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Requires ADAS technology in new vehicles and directs federally funded research into driver monitoring technology and other vehicle safety systems to curb crashes.

Five-Stars for Safe Cars Act – Original co-sponsors include Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Upgrades the U.S. New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) to include crashworthiness as it relates to pedestrians, bicyclists, children and older adults, plus requires testing of crash avoidance features such as automatic emergency braking.

Safe Roads Act – Original co-sponsors include Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia

Requires new commercial motor vehicles be equipped with automatic emergency braking.

School Bus Safety Act – Sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)

Requires vehicle safety upgrades including 3-point safety belts for all occupants, automatic emergency braking, improved fire safety and electronic stability control.