Maryland Matters Introduces a New Dashboard Monitoring Every Deadly Crash in Maryland

By John Domen
It happened, typically, greater than daily in 2015. In fact, preliminary data shows that for the 2nd year in a row, specifically 563 people died on Maryland roadways in 2022.
The new numbers were launched Wednesday by the state of Maryland. In 2022, 135 pedestrians passed away on state roadways, up by four from 2021. One more 11 bicyclists were eliminated, up five from 2021.
The four “persistent” causes of death, according to state leaders, were speeding and hostile driving, drug and alcohol disability, distracted driving, and the failure to use safety belt. And they’re occurring at similar rates as in 2020, when those numbers all increased up.
” Unfortunately, during the pandemic, rates were up on the roads, there were much less cars and trucks, therefore the cars and trucks that were out there were driving faster,” stated Chrissy Nizer, the head of Maryland’s Car Administration. “Currently the website traffic is starting to return to an extra normal pattern and people are still driving too quick.”
A warm map on the state’s new Accident Death Control panel shows a lot of the lethal crashes took place in a belt that ranges from southern Prince George’s Region alongside the Interstate 95 hallway into northeast Baltimore Region.
In fact, broken down by territory, Royal prince George’s Region was the most dangerous area to drive in, with 99 lives lost on the road. Baltimore County was second with 63 fatalities. Montgomery Area was third with 44.
” There’s more density and that’s where we often tend to see more collisions,” said Nizer.
The number of young vehicle drivers– specified as in between 15 and 20– that passed away last year was 28, which is also a rise from 2021. Accidents entailing fully grown vehicle drivers– defined as those over 65– shot up in 2022, from 35 to 54.
In her remarks, Nizer claimed she deliberately utilized the term “crashes” instead of “mishaps” to describe these deaths.
” That’s due to the fact that the causes that we have actually just discussed are a decision that someone either made before they got behind the wheel … or obtained made when they lagged the wheel,” stated Nizer. Pointing out instances, such as damaged or hostile driving, “they’re not mishaps. They’re a decision somebody made that caused somebody either seriously being wounded or losing their life.”
She likewise stressed that behind all the numbers are real individuals.
“They’re family members who are changed forever, who will certainly never coincide again,” Nizer said.
It deserves bearing in mind that these are just preliminary numbers, and are still subject to revision. In years past, this info had not been normally launched by Maryland up until much later on in the year.
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