Dangerous Roads newsletter: 'Stupid' drivers need smarter roads

As I commuted to the office in Melville this week, I found myself stuck in traffic behind an SUV with a bumper sticker that read, "Don’t follow me / I do stupid [expletive]."

I kept my distance, and sure enough, the vehicle’s driver lived up to those words. The driver swerved into the next lane, cutting off another, and sped away.

Aggressive driving like this, along with distracted and impaired driving, often dominate the public conversation about what to do about traffic safety on Long Island. I can understand why: Personal responsibility (or lack thereof) plays an important role in the problem, and it gets people fired up.

But this focus can obscure other significant factors that help explain why roughly 40,000 people were killed in traffic crashes across the U.S. last year — far more than most other wealthy countries, relative to population.

In the book "Killed by a Traffic Engineer," author Wes Marshall, himself a professor of traffic engineering, argues that many American roads are designed in ways that endanger pedestrians and bicyclists — who made up 37% of Long Island traffic fatalities in 2023 — as well as drivers. He also writes about how things like city planning, zoning and the availability of public transit affect how much we drive, and therefore how much risk we’re exposed to by driving.

Recently, I spoke with Angela Eichelberger, a researcher at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, who has been looking at another area that, at first glance, might seem quite tangential to traffic safety: mental health. In a recent study, she found an association between self-reported feelings of depression and thoughts of suicide and impaired-driving deaths during the pandemic. While she was cautious to state that her research doesn’t prove causation, it makes sense. Unhappier people are more likely to take dangerous risks.

All of this is not to say that I don’t fault the driver with the bumper sticker for his maniacal behavior during my commute. As much as I’d like to say I’m cool as a cucumber on the highway, instances like that — especially when someone seems so indifferent or even proud of their recklessness — get me riled up.

But I also think it’s important to dig deeper into the "whys" of our traffic safety crisis. That’s something that I and my colleagues plan to continue doing in our Dangerous Roads series — especially with some upcoming articles focused on solutions.

Readers speak up

While a driver’s mental state can play a role in crashes, engineering and design can help compensate for it, as this week’s reader email points out.

Unless pedestrian infrastructure is well designed and dignified it will not work. As we can see on Long Island, all crosswalks are not equal. Some are faded stripes across a six lane road, while some offer signal lights and a raised crossing path. Those which are designed well are safer and increase foot traffic. Those which are designed poorly contribute to the mentality that pedestrians are simply a nuisance and should be driving instead. However, as a frequent biker and jogger, motorists stopping past the stop line and haphazardly turning right on red are possibly the most dangerous. More intersections should prohibit turning right on red.

Peter St. Germaine, Setauket

What are your solutions to dangerous driving? Let us know at roads@newsday.com

By Peter Gill

peter.gill@newsday.com