It’s not just you: After the pandemic, Kansas drivers really are getting worse | Opinion

Am I getting old? Or are Kansas drivers getting really bad?

It’s a question I’ve been asking the last few years, after we collectively emerged from the 2020 pandemic lockdowns and started hitting the roads again. Post-COVID, driving suddenly seemed like an adventure, and an unpleasant one at that.

My fellow motorists have seemed more aggressive, less friendly, less concerned with the principles of defensive driving that we all learned in high school driver’s ed classes. These days I more routinely have to slam my brakes when another driver cuts me off. And I’ve learned to take a beat before proceeding when the light turns green — best not to get T-boned by the inevitable driver blowing through the fresh red light.

Midwestern politeness is gone. It’s all motorized mayhem now.

Still, it seemed possible that the lockdown year had transformed me into an intolerant curmudgeon, annoyed by people doing what they always have. Maybe the drivers hadn’t changed. Maybe it was me.

It’s not just me.

A new study from Forbes Advisor ranks Kansas as having the eighth-worst drivers in the United States. Missourians shouldn’t laugh — they came in 10th.

We’re bad drivers, folks. Really bad.

Now, I normally don’t put too much stock from outlets that seem to specialize in making lists designed to generate headlines and clicks.

But the methodology here seems to be pretty legit — Forbes Advisor generated its rankings based on statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and looked at eight metrics, including the number of fatal crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers, as well as the number of fatal crashes involving drivers who were too drowsy or distracted, were speeding or who simply ignored the rules of the road.

Delve into the numbers, and it sure looks like Kansas drivers are jerks.

“The Sunflower State has the second highest number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who disobeyed traffic signs, traffic signals or a traffic officer,” Forbes Advisor said.

That means we’re regularly breaking the rules, to deadly effect.

Kansas also ranks third in both the number of fatal accidents involving drowsy drivers and the number involving distracted drivers.

Missouri doesn’t fare much better. The statistic that popped out to me: The state ranks 10th in the nation in the number of deadly accidents involving drunk drivers.

Folks, we know better than that. Don’t we?

There is some good news here: Forbes’ numbers are based on some slightly stale data — the numbers are based on three-year averages from 2019 to 2021. More recent information suggests things might be improving somewhat — both Kansas and Missouri saw dips in their total number of traffic fatalities in 2023.

Kansas, in fact, last year registered its fewest number of deadly car wrecks in nearly a decade: 388 people died in traffic crashes here, the first time there had been fewer than 400 road fatalities since 2015.

So perhaps we’re not so bad as Forbes says?

Maybe. But the number of fatal car crashes in places such as Wichita and Kansas City are still higher than they were before the pandemic. What’s more, my own personal metric — the number of times I find myself cursing in traffic after narrowly avoiding an accident — remains stubbornly elevated.

It’s not difficult folks. Don’t drive drunk — or drowsy, or distracted. (That means: Put down your cellphones for a few minutes.) Obey the rules. And hope that other people obey the rules too.

Why? Because we all deserve to get home alive.

Joel Mathis is a regular Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle Opinion correspondent. He lives in Lawrence. Formerly a writer and editor at Kansas newspapers, he served nine years as a syndicated columnist.

This story was originally published May 24, 2024 at 5:02 AM with the headline "It’s not just you: After the pandemic, Kansas drivers really are getting worse | Opinion."