News
Fatal crashes rise in N.C. during pandemic, even though driving was way down
Greg Barnes, North Carolina Health News
January 25, 2021
The number of people dying on North Carolina’s roads increased last year, despite far fewer people driving because of the coronavirus pandemic. At times, the number of people on the state’s roads declined by as much as 40 percent, said Mark Ezzell, director of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. The largest decline was primarily due to Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order, which began March 30 and lasted until May 22.
North Carolinians drove far less during the pandemic. So why did fatal crashes go up?
Ames Alexander – The News & Observer
Jan 13, 2021
The numbers seem to defy common sense: Although North Carolinians drove fewer miles during the pandemic, the death toll on the state’s highways climbed to more than 1,500 — the highest number in 13 years.
Randa Radwan featured in NC Policy Collaboratory Research Spotlight
Q&A with HSRC Director Randa Radwan.
Webinar – 10/21/2020
Webinar
Oct 21, 2020
In this webinar, COVID-19 mobility and health data trends in North Carolina was presented, as well as a look at pandemic effects on teen driver crashes and licensing and a case study of pandemic effects on meat and poultry processing plants.
As death rates climb in rural NC, COVID-19 has shown up ‘with a vengeance’
Ames Alexander – The Charlotte Observer
Sep 16, 2020
A recent study by the UNC Highway Safety Research Center came to that conclusion. So did a Charlotte Observer analysis, which looked at more up-to-date COVID-19 data.
COVID-19 research examines mobility and health impacts across NC
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
July 27, 2020
COVID-19 is affecting the health of communities large and small across North Carolina. But how is the pandemic impacting how people travel in North Carolina, and how might those changes interplay with health policies?
A new research project – called the NC COVID-19 Mobility and Health Impacts Study – is now underway to examine those questions. Led by the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, this project brings together an impressive team of multidisciplinary research partners from across the UNC System, including UNC-CH’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Odum Institute for Research in Social Science, and the NC State University Department of Statistics, to research the interrelationships of public health policies, mobility changes, and the transmission of COVID-19 to inform policy decisions in North Carolina.
