Traffic deaths in North Carolina last year surpassed 1,500 for the first time in 13 years despite a pandemic during which motorists logged fewer miles statewide.
The Charlotte Observer reports N.C. Department of Transportation data shows the number of miles driven dropped 19% last year, but the number of fatal crashes rose 8% over the previous year.
Mark Ezzell, Director of N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program, says with COVID-19, people are concentrating on their health and their financial futures and not focusing on driving.
Ezzell says the rise in traffic deaths is a public health crisis.
