Pedestrian traffic fatalities

Americans have been eating more Super Bowl chicken wings as pedestrian fatalities have climbed, which is the kind of correlation that nobody wants and everybody recognizes. The wing is at the table. The pedestrian is at the crosswalk. Both, somehow, paid the price for the same decade.

Two trends with completely separate causes. Super Bowl wing consumption has grown each year on bigger ad spends, larger gatherings, and the National Chicken Council's promotional efforts, while pedestrian fatalities have risen because US vehicles are heavier and faster, distracted driving has worsened, and street design hasn't kept up. One curve is celebration; one is consequence.

So the correlation is one party scaling and one tragedy scaling, on the same calendar. The wings keep growing. So, less forgivably, do the headlines.