Can someone help me here and tell me why....

[JimLor]

Between the news on Brittany, Lindsey, and the other pantload, I heard in passing that last year (?) 43,000 Americans died on our highways. Roughly that many Americans died over ~10 years in Vietnam, and this nation, and a generation, tore itself apart with protests, etc. But 43,000 die every year on the roads and.................nothing! I suspect that somewhere between 800,000 and 1,200,000 were injured. Where's the outrage, the protests, the accusations, the attacks on politicians, car makers, highway commissions? Year after year tens of thousands die (most I would classify as by "negligent homicide") and we are silent. Where are the usual suspects decrying what's happening......

This really is something I find facinating and, frankly, disturbing. By the way I know the answer, just wondered about others opinions. And to be up front, I haven't done a damn thing about it myself.

 

[airboss]

I think I know why. I just can't formulate an answer without getting way too political.

 

[mike25]

Thats a question i've been asking for years. Everyone is all upset

(as we should be) about 3000+ in Iraq. Yet don't seem to care about

somthing we 'can' do somthing about.

 

[C&C]

Be careful for what you ask for. The outlawing of motorcycles would definitly be on the short list. A short answer is that you can't protect everybody from everything, for if you do, the world would come to a screeching halt.

 

[abarron576]

I think one thing is that there are so many causes of these deaths that it would be impossible to weed out any two, three, four or more reasons. Yes, faulty designs and cheap manufacturing play a part, but it seems like a lot of accidents or caused by driver error or just plain stupidy which is impossible to legislate against. I agree with the statement of being careful what you wish for as motorcycles and speed limits will be in the early political answers and we know politicians are always right. (That should get some replies!)

 

[SouthernCruizer]

If everyone were forced to learn to drive a car, ride a motorcycle, pilot a boat, and pilot an airplane before they were given a license, there would probably be less than half the deaths there are now. That ain't happening. Besides, it dont matter anyways...we are only here for a VERY short time, and then we are dust. Don't sweat death, just live till ya die.

Jay

'04 FJR 1300

dying as we speak

 

[Crash Cash]

What I always wonder about is that nobody I know has ever died in a car wreck, or had any friends/family die in a car wreck. Is it just the trailer trash and college students that can't drive? As far as I can tell from the local news, that seems to be the case.

 

[ponyfool]

40,000 + deaths last year. But that's few per miles driven/ridden in decades. ANd roughly 40% are directly related to alcohol if I remember correctly.

As for outlawing anything. Just cuz it's illegal doesn't mean behavior changes. DUII is illegal, but it's widely prevalent. That's because society's attitude towards it hasn't fully changed. Remember, politicians are usually regular people. Go to pretty much ANY cocktail party and you'll find someone leaving too impaired to drive. Why? Because drunk drivers that kill people are usually the down and out folks, not the well to do. At least, that's the mantra this country still believes as a whole. Until the realization that it can actually happen to anyone impaired, it won't change.

 

[SmokeWagon]

Seems like I read somewhere, currently the next best auto safety improvement would be to put a helmet on. And I think that may be against the law, ( like wearing a ski mask h34r: ).

 

[JimLor]

I was actually thinking that the answer lies in addressing the drivers. Politicians won't do anything, auto manufacturers will work on the margins and basically work on the "mitigation" part of the meeting engagements, and since, in my humble opinion, the overwhelming percentage of what we call "accidents" are actually caused by actions on the drivers part and aren't "accidents" at all - whether it's inattention, driving too fast, poor techniques, well, it's the drivers stupid! Run a red light and kill someone, go to trial, go to jail (assuming you're found guilty), and explain to Bubba why you're not his type for a couple of years. How about negligent homicide - isn't that on the books? Why do drivers seem exempt? Why do we see cases of people in front of judges with their 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, etc charges of drunk driving? Look, no one I know or love has been killed in a vehicle accident - I honestly just don't get how we get so worked up over the stuff we do and then just dismiss 40,000+ of us dying every year in a way that is mostly preventable. I just don't understand - guess I never will!