High speeds and distractions imperil NH drivers and pedestrians
Apr. 13—Route 125 courses northward from Haverhill, Mass., through Plaistow, Kingston, Brentwood, Epping, Lee, Barrington, Rochester and Milton, linking locals and commuters to businesses and homes on both sides of the state line while passing through multiple intersections and speed zones.
Over the course of a decade, the undivided straightaway has become a speedway at times — as well as a hot zone for serious accidents. Between distracted driving, impaired driving and driving 20 mph above the posted limit at any hour, it's a nexus of motor vehicle violations that threaten driver and pedestrian safety, according to state and local law enforcement.
Over the past nine years, 4,898 crashes were recorded on Route 125, many of which resulted in deaths or serious injuries, according to the New Hampshire Department of Safety. That translates to 1.5 crashes a day.
"It's always been dangerous," said Capt. Chris Vetter, commander of the Office of Highway Safety at DOS. New Hampshire State Police have just started a months-long collaboration with municipal police departments along the route to curb aggressive driving, compromised driving, irresponsible driving and excessive speed on a road that was never intended to be an amateur raceway.
"It's not just speed," said Vetter. "It's distraction. It's impairment."
And it's endemic across the state.
As of Dec. 30, 139 people died in 130 crashes statewide in 2022, according to the Department of Safety — up from 104 in 2020 and 118 in 2021.
As of April 10, 22 people have died in motor vehicle accidents this year, down from 25 this time last year. That includes four pedestrians, up from one a year ago.
"It's a small sample size, but it's significant," Vetter said. The number of traffic deaths "will never be low enough."
High speeds adopted during the pandemic by drivers on less-populated major highways and seemingly sleepier state and local roads persist. If anything, speed has increased on highways, town roads and some rural, curved roads dotted with houses and driveways, according to reports from law enforcement agencies.
On Monday in Peterborough, a motorcycle accelerated to 90 mph on Route 136 — Greenfield Road — to pass another vehicle on a corner, crossing a yellow line then crashing a short while later near Gulf Road.
Peterborough Police Capt. Ernie Belletete said, "People have been calling requesting patrols for speeding" on routes 101 and 202, which go through town, as well as on local roads. The problems seem to peak in spring and warmer weather.
Late last September, Nashua police, collaborating with state police, stepped up surveillance of drivers on the Everett Turnpike, a sluice for speeders heading to and from Massachusetts. They conducted 1,325 motor vehicle stops, mostly for speed, in a period of three to four weeks.
Speeding "certainly has increased since the pandemic" on all roads, said Sgt. John Cinelli, the Nashua department's public information officer. Currently, the city's two traffic unit officers are patrolling 14 locations within the city where repeated complaints have been received about speeding, aggressive driving and distracted driving — including cellphone use.
When it comes to extreme speeds, interstates 95 and 93, Route 101 east of Manchester and the Everett Turnpike are in a class of their own. Interstate 89 sometimes joins that lineup.
"It's not unusual for troopers (patrolling those highways) to experience speeds in excess of 100 mph on a daily basis," said Vetter. "Twenty years ago that was not a common occurrence. Now it's an everyday occurrence."
That has translated to more crashes, fatalities and accidents involving pedestrians.
Analytics show that driver distractions are up as well. According to Cambridge Mobile Telematics, which tracks driving behavior and technology use, distracted driving spikes at night between 6 and 11 p.m. In 2022, distracted driving defied its seasonal patterns of high in summer and low in winter to become a constant pattern year-round.
Nationwide, drivers were 30% more distracted in February 2022 than they were in February 2020.
"There's certainly more reasons for people to be distracted than in previous years," said Capt, Alan Lowe of the Lebanon Police Department. "Use of electronic devices is more of a distraction now than it ever has been."
Within Lebanon's city limits, accidents rose from 727 in 2021 to 764 in 2022. Citywide, police made 4,963 motor vehicle stops in 2022, up from 3,598 in 2021.
Lowe said there's been a slight increase in accidents on Route 12A, which runs for nearly two miles through the city's primary retail strip and involves stop-and-go traffic. It's a setting for "impatient drivers running red lights and distracted drivers getting into minor fender-benders," Lowe said.
In general, traffic congestion in metropolitan areas across the country has returned to 90% to 110% of pre-COVID levels, according to Bobby Lee, a spokesperson for LYT, a company that uses artificial intelligence to modulate local traffic signals.
Research shows that the "cognitive loads" of distracted driving are intense, Lee said. Even reciting the alphabet or counting backwards from 10 to 1 delays reaction time, he said.
A study by the American Automobile Association found that people sitting in traffic are two to three times more likely to be distracted by cellphone use. "Even when we're not moving, we're still distracted," Lee said.
