As the world emerges from two years of COVID disruption, two disturbing trends have persisted: increased rates of traffic fatalities and declining public trust — in each other and public institutions.
The pandemic upset many long-standing patterns of interpersonal interaction. By forcing people into lockdown — in many cases for over a year — it kept them from interacting in familiar settings: workplaces, the shops, at community organisations, places of worship … and on the roads.
The rise in deadly crashes is particularly concerning because it followed an extended period of progress in road safety. The decline in trust continues a trend that had been underway for several decades – at least, in the United States.
