Lots of people are terrified of flying. But very few fear being in a car or truck, even though it’s statistically much more dangerous.
By Fortune magazine’s count, an American’s odds of dying in an airplane crash, including private planes, is 1 in 9,800. But the odds of being killed in a car crash are 1 in 114.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, an organization of insurance companies, health experts and consumer advocates, calls the number of vehicle deaths — and the cost of these accidents — a public health epidemic. That case unfortunately can be made.
Last week the safety group released a report saying that even though traffic fatalities in the United States declined by 1.8 percent in 2017, the number of deaths is unacceptably high, at more than 37,000 per year. Put another way, despite any number of vehicle safety improvements such as airbags, 100 people per day are being killed by vehicles.
In fact, despite a greater focus on safety, traffic fatalities have increased almost every year since 2011, when 32,000 people died.
The reasons more people are dying are predictable. In 2016, 10,000 deaths involved a drunk driver. Crashes involving young drivers killed 4,800 people. Motorcycle fatalities totaled 5,200.
Too many people in vehicles are not wearing seat belts. And there is the rising incidence of distracted driving, typically caused by cell phones. Those accidents killed 3,400 people.
Traffic deaths and injuries are only one measurement of the problem. The safety group estimated that the costs of wrecks in 2016 was $242 billion in property damage, medical costs and workplace or household productivity. Loss of life, pain from injuries and decreased quality of life adds another $594 billion to the cost.
Mississippi has a high rate of fatalities compared to other states. In 2016, crashes killed 690 people and had an economic cost of $2.7 billion. In Louisiana, 757 people died that year, and the economic cost of crashes was $5.6 billion.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety proposes a number of common-sense efforts to improve safety. It wants the government to require auto manufacturers to require the use of collision avoidance technology, such as automatic emergency braking and lane departure warnings, in new cars, trucks and buses. Seat belt usage in rear seats of vehicles needs to be improved. Speed limiting devices and emergency braking should be required in large trucks.
The group also says “automated enforcement” — meaning cameras at busy intersections — would cut down on speeding and running red lights, both of which play a large role in crashes. While studies have shown that these cameras reduce traffic violations and crashes, their Big Brother element also upsets many drivers.
Vehicle safety improvements save lives. But the best way to greatly reduce traffic fatalities and injuries isn’t through seat belt laws or traffic cameras. It’s up to drivers, who must use a little more common sense behind the wheel.
Don’t drink and drive. Slow down a little. Stop barreling through a yellow light. Stay off your cell phone. It sounds trite, but it’s true: The life you save may be your own.
