UNITED STATES STILL HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST ROAD ACCIDENT
DEATH AND INJURY RATES IN THE WORLD: 34,000 DIE AND 2.5 MILLION INJURED EACH
YEAR.
Despite the improvements in road safety, the United States
has one of the highest death rates at about 1 person dead per 10,000 people. Unfortunately,
only undeveloped countries have higher death rate.
Since 9/11/2001, we have lost very few people to terrorist
acts. But we lost 500,000 people on the
deadly roads. An additional 5 million
have been injured. Our spending priorities
are clearly misplaced. Investment in our
road infrastructure is what is needed, as the economic toll from all these
deaths and injuries and property damage has suffocated our economy.
Thus far this year alone, we have lost 12,000 people and an
additional 130,000 people have been injured.
Some states, such as Texas and West Virginia (sorry, WV,
despite your tremendous progress in traffic safety, you are still at the top of
the worst-death-rate list) have death rates of nearly 1.5 percent, i.e., fifty
percent more people die compared to the national death rate.
Approximately 34,000 people are getting killed each
year. In the 1950s and 1960s, about 55,000 people used to die on the
roads – so, there has been improvement in the number of dead.
However, the number of injured is rising. Roughly 2.5
million are injured (yes, you read it correctly – 2.5 million injured) per
year. That is, 1 percent (1%) of the population that is eligible to drive
is injured every year.
Speeding, aggressive driving, tail gating, lane changes for
no reason, pass on the left to make a quick right turn, no signals or late
signaling, weaving through traffic, driving while impaired, driving while tired
or sleepy, are just few of the traits of bad drivers. The end result is always death or injury or a
very close call.
There has been an increase of the number of deaths and
injuries to pedestrians, cyclists, mopeds, and motorcyclists. Motorcycles are less stable and less visible
than cars and often have high performance capabilities. When motorcycles crash,
their riders lack the protection of an enclosed vehicle, so they're more likely
to be injured or killed. The federal government estimates that per mile
traveled in 2012, the number of deaths on motorcycles was over 26 times the
number in cars.
Unfortunately, there is a small number of drivers who are
refusing to wait for a train to pass and they are trying to beat it, with often
tragic consequences.
It's not worth the game of chicken. The two, three or four minutes you will spend
waiting for the train to pass is not greater than the time spent injuring
yourself or your vehicle, or even loss of life.
So, in a nutshell, it is worse than a war zone out there.
So, please be safe and be on the lookout for aggressive
drivers, weaving-through-the-traffic drivers, crazy drivers, reckless drivers,
sick drivers, medical-condition drivers, sleepy drivers, negligent drivers,
stupid drivers, careless drivers, drunk drivers, speeding drivers, drugged
drivers, texting drivers, talking-on-the-phone drivers, looking-at-the-GPS
drivers, hurry-hurry drivers, tailgating drivers, upset drivers,
eating-while-driving drivers, putting-the-lipstick-on-while-driving drivers, elderly
drivers, and so on.
As we always say: it is better to arrive late at your
current destination, than to arrive early at your final destination. Slow
down at intersections, let the aggressive drivers go first, it does not worth
it getting you or your family injured or killed.
Drive safely. Learn
from these deadly accidents and slow down.
IF YOU MUST GO, THEN TAKE IT SLOW.