Interesting article. I skimmed it so maybe I missed this, but my first thought was that the population is aging, and older people have more trouble driving at night. I’m 60 and I am definitely impaired at night, so I avoid driving after dark if at all possible.
I haven’t read it yet, but the first thing I noticed was the graph starts heading upward just after the 2008 financial crisis. More people working extra or odd shifts, more people doing without cars, more people driving tired and stressed …
A second and better thought: it’s the US obsession with ever-increasing penis substitutes SUV and truck sizes. With a smaller vehicle, when you get hit, you roll over the hood and off to the side. With a bigger vehicle, you go underneath, run over by a much heavier vehicles, she potentially dragged. There are also bigger blind spots and, from my experience driving near matter SUVs and pickups, their drivers are often just right fucking oblivious to the outside world, or fucking entitled, driving like they own the road and everyone else is obligated to get out of their way.
My other thought was that the rise of Android auto and apple carplay have really driven a move to large bright displays in the car that both kill your night vision and provide a nice distraction when you look down to check on the GPS or what song is playing or whatever.
Interesting article. I skimmed it so maybe I missed this, but my first thought was that the population is aging, and older people have more trouble driving at night. I’m 60 and I am definitely impaired at night, so I avoid driving after dark if at all possible.
I haven’t read it yet, but the first thing I noticed was the graph starts heading upward just after the 2008 financial crisis. More people working extra or odd shifts, more people doing without cars, more people driving tired and stressed …
A second and better thought: it’s the US obsession with ever-increasing
penis substitutesSUV and truck sizes. With a smaller vehicle, when you get hit, you roll over the hood and off to the side. With a bigger vehicle, you go underneath, run over by a much heavier vehicles, she potentially dragged. There are also bigger blind spots and, from my experience driving near matter SUVs and pickups, their drivers are often just right fucking oblivious to the outside world, or fucking entitled, driving like they own the road and everyone else is obligated to get out of their way.My other thought was that the rise of Android auto and apple carplay have really driven a move to large bright displays in the car that both kill your night vision and provide a nice distraction when you look down to check on the GPS or what song is playing or whatever.
I think it is a combination of all of those things. Phones, infotainment systems, driven by overworked and tired people driving ever larger cars.
@athos77 this seems like the most plausible explanation.
Post GFC funding cuts to enforcement of drunk driving laws might be a related factor.