America's Most Dangerous Highways

Driving in America is becoming more deadly, with nearly 18,000 people killed in traffic incidents in just the first six months of 2016. That represents an increase of more than 10 percent over the same time last year—a period that saw similar gains over 2014. Fatalities per 100,000 miles driven are at a 7-year high. The troubling death spike may have several causes, including the fact that more Americans are driving more as the economy has recovered. But it’s believed that one big culprit is distracted driving. As CityLab reported earlier this year, American drivers are texting, talking, futzing with with vehicle’s ever-more-complex entertainment systems, and otherwise ignoring the road more than half the time they’re behind the wheel. The epidemic of distracted driving is thought to be responsible for about 9 percent of all road fatalities. Meanwhile, anti-cellphone traffic laws remain frustratingly difficult to enforce in most states, and nonexistent in a handful of others.

Under the mantle of a policy platform known as “Vision Zero,” a growing number of cities have launched campaigns to limit and eventually end all road fatalities, and the U.S. Department of Transportation recently jumped on bandwagon, too: The “Road to Zero” coalition will fund initiatives to improve traffic engineering, law enforcement, and educational strategies across the country. It’s all aimed at getting state laws aligned with the best road safety practices out there.