‘The longest stretch of days without a fatal crash was five’

My Sun column today was supposed to be a rant against the reckless, high-speed drivers who, like the pair involved in the deaths of the Baltimore Beltway 6 in March, risk the lives of the rest of us on the roadways. The column ended up as a reminder that, more than speeding, distracted driving is the leading cause of crashes in Maryland and across the country.
You can look it up — on this Crash Data Dashboard maintained by the Maryland Department of Transportation in its “zero-deaths” efforts to reduce crashes by making us aware of what causes them.
Here’s some elaboration from Anna Levendusky, who handles media inquiries about Maryland crashes for MDOT:
“A distracted driving crash is defined as ‘at least one driver in the crash was reported to be distracted by either ‘failure to give full time and attention’ or ‘cell phone in use’ or ‘inattentive’ or any of the following:
“Looked but did not see; other electronic device (tablet, GPS, MP3 player, etc.); [distracted] by other occupants; by moving object in vehicle; talking or listening on cellular phone; dialing cellular phone; adjusting audio and/or climate controls; using other device controls integral to vehicle; using device/object brought into vehicle (non-electronic); distracted by outside person, object, or event; eating or drinking; smoking related; other cellular phone related; lost in thought; or texting from a cellular phone.”
Maryland averaged about 110,000 motor vehicle crashes each year from 2017 to 2021, according to the Crash Data Dashboard.
“Annually more than 550 people are killed on Maryland roadways. This is a staggering number, but it is not just a number. It is mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who are losing their lives on Maryland roads. In 2022, the longest stretch of days without a fatal crash was five. The more we educate Marylanders on this epidemic on our roadways, the more we are able to influence change on the behaviors seen on the road. Each year, it is the same common factors that contribute to crashes – distraction, impairment, speeding and aggressive driving. Failure to wear a seat belt is a common contributing factor in passenger vehicle fatalities.”

Further reading today: US Traffic Safety Is Getting Worse, While Other Countries Improve
My Friday column: Speed kills, but not as much as phones and other driver distractions do