Raccoons

I drive a lot for work and was thinking. Not much else to do on Rt 17 but think.
Why are there so many dead raccoons?
When I was a kid I watched a raccoon lockpick the metal clasp on a Coleman ice chest. I saw them pull the 'Pull here' strip off a box of danish and lift out the tray. My mother testifies to having seen one remove the carry handle and lid to a Tupperware cake carrier and climb a tree with an entire pineapple upside-down cake tucked in his armpit.
Why then do so many of them get hit by cars? I don't get it. Maybe the raccoons are dumber these days. Bet Al Gore didn't look into that.
Just sayin'.