> First, it claims this to be a “uniquely American” problem, despite Ireland and Switzerland also having shockingly high growths,

Just to fact check this from an Irish perspective: the growth you see in the NYT chart is from an already very low base. We have one of lowest death rates per capita in the world at 2.2/100k inhabitants. That's a result of focused policing, improvements in both cars and infrastructure and borderline zero tolerance for DUI.

Speaking as an ex-pat here, it blows my mind how accepted driving after a lot of drinks is over here - people think nothing of it.