The Death Toll of a Mass Shooting Doesn’t End at the Scene

The gruesome numbers that follow a mass shooting – 26 at Sandy Hook, 49 at Pulse nightclub, 58 in Las Vegas – are always jarring, a stark reminder of humanity’s capacity for violence. But the damage doesn’t stop at the scene; it radiates outward like ripples on a pond, affecting millions of Americans who were nowhere near the carnage.

One such ripple effect is well-documented: the impact on mental health. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say mass shootings are a significant source of stress in their lives. Researchers have found that after these events, antidepressant use rises among teenagers living near a school shooting. The connection between gun violence and increased anxiety is becoming increasingly clear.

Another ripple effect has received less attention: the deadly consequences of distracted driving. After the September 11 attacks, fatal car crashes rose as travelers traded planes for cars – but researchers also detected an increase in crashes per mile driven, attributed to fear and stress that spread nationwide. Could mass shootings have a similar effect on our roads?

A recent study published in JAMA Psychiatry analyzed federal data on fatal car crashes and FBI records of mass shootings over 15 years. The researchers used a “natural experiment” to compare traffic deaths before and after each shooting. They found a correlation between the two events.

The results were sobering: on the day after the deadliest mass shootings, fatal car crashes rose by an average of 14.3%, translating to around 20 additional deaths nationwide – roughly 75% of the number killed in the shootings themselves. This increase held across different driver types, regions, and weather conditions.

Stress, anxiety, and distraction likely play a role in these increased traffic deaths. Grief-stricken drivers may be more prone to mistakes, or perhaps they’re simply too distracted by their phones to focus on the road.

The key takeaway from this research is not the specific cause of increased traffic deaths – rather, it’s the realization that mass shootings have a much broader impact than we previously thought. We tend to focus on the numbers killed at the scene, but what about those who die on our roads as a result of stress and distraction? How do we account for them in our calculus of gun violence?

This study should prompt us to reconsider how we picture the scale of mass shootings. When we only count those killed at the scene, we’re underestimating the true toll. Seeing the fuller impact might help us respond more thoughtfully – whether in the media, on Capitol Hill, or in our own communities.

The connection between gun violence and distracted driving is a grim reminder that society’s problems are deeply intertwined. We can’t simply address one issue without considering its broader implications. By acknowledging this shadow toll of mass shootings, we may be able to develop more effective strategies for preventing these tragedies – not just at the scene, but on our roads as well.

The invisible victims of mass shootings deserve our attention. As we strive to make sense of the numbers and the carnage, let’s also look beyond the headlines to the ripple effects that spread far and wide, often unnoticed until it’s too late.