A pedestrian walks past the entrance of an emergency room of a hospital in New York, the United States, Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
NEW YORK, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Pedestrian fatalities have surged to record levels in many U.S. states because of reckless driving since the pandemic broke out two years ago, The New York Times reported Monday.
"Last year, New Mexico recorded 99 pedestrian deaths, up from 81 in 2020 and 83 in 2019 and the most since it began tracking such incidents in the 1990s," the report said.
Record-high fatalities were also seen in New Jersey, Utah, Washington State, and Texas last year. The report added that the country recorded an increase in reckless driving two years into the pandemic.
In the United States, crashes killed more than 6,700 pedestrians in 2020, up about five percent from the estimated 6,412 the year before, while preliminary data from 2021 have shown another increase in pedestrian deaths, the report said, citing the Governors Highway Safety Association.
After various investigations in different states, authorities attributed the deaths to factors such as rising anxiety levels and pandemic drinking to the fraying of social norms, according to the report. ■
