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America falls behind on road safety
Compared with just a quarter century ago, driving on American roads is roughly twice as safe now as it was back in 1979. This can be attributed to safer cars and roads, new seatbelt laws and DUI crackdowns, but the end result remains that the number of people killed per vehicle-kilometers of travel in 1979 is about double the figure that it is today (20.8 per billion vehicle-kilometers in 1979 versus 9.4 per billion vehicle-kilometers last year, why they used kilometers instead of miles, we don't know).
Sounds like great news, right? It's not if you consider that over the same period, America, which was rated as having the safest roads in the world during the '70s, has since fallen behind countries such as Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the U.K., the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, according to research conducted by Leonard Evans for a new book on traffic safety.
The difference in safety ratings between the U.S. and the rest of these countries is the fact that where America has focused on increasing vehicle safety and technology through regulations, other countries have honed in on preventing the causes of accidents via more thorough education and licensing programs as well as tighter law enforcement.
[Source: AutoWeek]Part of the reason why America has been slow to adopt such policies is the time and cost involved. In many European countries, residents can't even learn to drive until they're 18 and then there are the education programs which can take years to complete. By contrast, many U.S. states allow people over the age of 18 to attain their licenses without attending any driver training programs whatsoever.
America can return to the number one spot in road safety but it's going to take a monumental change in policy and driver education to bring it about. Something all Americans will have to foot the bill for.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Du 1:11PM (8/27/2007)
Judging by the responses on most comment boards I'd add, INTELLIGENCE.
People are idiots.
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teamkitty 4:28PM (8/27/2007)
consumption
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BCM 1:15PM (8/27/2007)
They use kilometers so the number is directly comparable to other countries, e. g., Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the U.K., the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
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Shawn 1:18PM (8/27/2007)
Let see...we have more highways, more cars, higher speeds, many different languages, far more new drivers...so on and so on.
You can't compare the US to the Europeans. They don't commute 2 hours to work every day. It's basic really...the more time you spend driving, the more likely you will get in an accident.
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nagmashot 1:32PM (8/27/2007)
typicall US over all comment... Europe has far mor miles highways than the USA, we have in Europe the same number of registered cars... 220million in the USA and in the sam number in the EU.
As smale as Germany is.. behind the USA we have the second biggest highway network in the world... means compared to the size we have MUCH more highways as the USA and there is no faster street in the world as the Autobahn... compared to typical autobahnspeed US speed is backroad standart..
Ivan 2:20PM (8/27/2007)
In this particular statistic, they've factored in the amount of driving.
paul34 2:35PM (8/27/2007)
Hmm, hardly. The only reason for this is because of the severe lack of driver education in the US.
Over here, it is so hard for anyone to think that everyone on the road shoudln't revolved around their ridiculous driving style and that maybe it isn't the nicest thing to barrel down the highway in your ridiculous barge tank SUV.
Jens 3:09PM (8/27/2007)
Not many countries have higher speeds than we have here in Germany ... i.e. no speed limit at all. Traffic density is quite high around our urban centers. Plus we don't have highways that go hundreds of miles through rural areas.
Barney 5:00PM (8/27/2007)
You may have not noticed, but Europe is only one nation mentioned. "You can't compare the US to the Europeans." just what makes "us" so special?
VW-Guy 1:25PM (8/27/2007)
Guns. All these other countries have gun laws so our road rage incidents are usually less lethal. Apparantly some of the 'mercuns have taken the 'from my cold dead hands' movie line literally. Typical.
And that was tongue in cheek for the no humoured NRA membership card readers out there.
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carguy 1:42PM (8/27/2007)
Shawn - the statistic is deaths per vehicle kilometer traveled - thus driving more kilometers or having more cars doesn't affect this statistic.
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Ben 2:23PM (8/27/2007)
That's NOT true carguy. Although it's true that the statistics given are not directly influenced by having more cars, there IS an overall effect. If I do not ever sit in a car in my life, my chances of dying in an automobile is ZERO. Likewise, if I drive more in my life than somebody else, my chances of dying is greater because I'm putting myself at risk more often.
Also, by driving more, drivers are subject to greater fatigue and are more likely to not pay attention to the road. By having more cars on the road and increasing density of cars on the highway, this also puts drivers in situations that might require a higher skill level that not everyone has.
I'm not defending the USA, US drivers are stupid let's be honest. I'm just pointing out that having more cars and driving more miles IS a factor.
Shawn 1:43PM (8/27/2007)
nagmashot, you're not seriously aruging that 47 countries in Europe compared to the US are you? US have far more roads than any European country. Americans also spend far more time in their cars than Europeans. It's not to insult you because I think it stinks. I'm just pointing out that we spend more time driving and therefore more likely to get into accidents. You also have to realize that unlike European countries, which have great mass transit systems, we do not have that.
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nagmashot 2:22PM (8/27/2007)
shawn Yes I say the europen roadnetwork is MUCH larger than the US...
The EU are 27 nations not 47....
There are more cars sold in the EU as in the USA..the EU car market is by far the biggest car market in the world do you belive we drive our cars only on unpaved country roads..do you belive we buy our cars only to show of... 50miles travel to work is standart today... many people drive 100miles and more each day...that is nothing you only seeing in the USA..
As I started working with 18 I needed to drive 60miles each day...that is 20years ago now..
welcome in the world outside the US of A
SPG 1:48PM (8/27/2007)
I've always felt that highways in the USA and even residential roads are great.
I do however, notice that people tailgate constantly at 70 MPH and the lanes are a little slim but overall I find driving in the USA to be a treat.
One of the countries that the USA has fallen behind is Canada where I'm from. The province I'm in gets extreme cold and extreme heat every year and our roads are usually very rough.
Regardless of that, there must be some major breakdown in drivers education with motorists in the USA because with a well thought out Info structure like I see in the USA compared to the crumbling one in Canada, US residents should be leaps and bounds ahead of Canada.
According to this article though, you're not.
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Dmv 2:23PM (8/27/2007)
This is do to the fact most americans don't know how to drive their cars safety, talking on their cell phone, eating mcdonalds, watching LCD screen and multitasking while on the freeway.-----Words of Wisdom keep your eye on the road.
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paul34 2:33PM (8/27/2007)
I'm also going to add "spelling" to the list, judging by the original commenter's glorious skill in spelling his own screename.
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Mallory 2:43PM (8/27/2007)
It's not really fair to compare the U.S. to places like Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Canada, etc. All of these other countries have strong central governments and tend to be more liberal than we here in the states so of course they're going to have better healthcare, better educational systems and better maintained infrastructure.
Most in the U.S. have this "every man for himself" attitude that, when existing within a republic, tends to lead to a more chaotic system for everyone involved. It's probably carry over from our wild west days but unless we can move pass this then expect to see many more articles like this in the future.
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DriftPunch 5:08PM (8/27/2007)
Yes, history shows that it's quite clear that strong central governments are THE KEY to providing safe and secure environments to their populations! Europe in particular has been best example of this for the duration of the 20th Century.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled America bashing...
Don 2:45PM (8/27/2007)
We're falling behind in everything.
But we're not safer...the cars are. We're driving like assholes more than ever.
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