Tragedy strikes Prince George's County, Maryland roads more often than any other county in Maryland. Traffic fatalities are more frequent and again are on the rise.
Since 2016 Prince George's County, Maryland has had more deadly accidents than anywhere else in Maryland. In 2022 alone, some 121 people were killed there in crashes and 2023 may well surpass that number.
The question being examined by police, local government officials and safety focused citizens, is why?
Several causes have been posited. The first postulated is wisespread chanes in driving behavior which commenced in 2020 during covid. Fewer vehicles on the roads led to more aggressive driving behavior, with higher speeds and less margin for error.
The second is a reduced presence of law enforcement, reflecting a nationwide dearth of qualified individuals. This absence of law enforcement reduces the perceived risk of reckless driving.
Finally, cell phones are ubiquitous and their use leads to distracted driving which along with excessive speed and buzzed driving, are the primary agents of fatalities on the roads of Prince George's County, Maryland.
Curing these problems is likely to be time-consuming and expensive.
