BELTS WIN, HELMETS LOSE
WRECK-LESS DRIVING
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist
BELTS WIN, HELMETS LOSE
PANTHERSVILLE, GA.: Our reader zig@xyz.somewhere.biz reports some interesting newer traffic death/injury statistics which he gathered from various government and university sources. In brief, year 2003 saw improvement in the use of safety belts and decline in helmet use by cyclists. There were 1% fewer auto/truck/pedestrian losses and 12% more motorcycle related losses. More frightening, since 1997 motorcycle deaths increased by 73% due to more cycles on the roadways and fewer riders wearing protective helmets.
So the good news is that in 2003 only 1.48 persons died per 100 million miles traveled by all types of motorized vehicles! That is, if a decline to 42,643 killed and 2.9 million injured is good. That includes 3,662 motorcyclists and 4,789 pedestrians wasted. It appears we have our own home grown terrorism which we must defeat.
The data on safety belt usage is weak because there is no good way to gather it. It is estimated by counting vehicle passengers at certain locations in daylight hours and extrapolating for totals. But even so, an increase to 79% of occupants in 2003 from 72% in 2002 is encouraging.
An increasing worrisome fact is that the USA population of age 65+ drivers is about to expand greatly. Fatalities and injuries for older persons are higher than for younger ones. This is due to the decline in physical and mental agility as we age, making it more difficult to control vehicles. Also, older persons become more fragile and heal slower, if ever. This gets us back to our need for continued driver re-training, safer vehicles, safer roadways and adequate alternate transportation.
Speaking of safer roadways: an Associated Press release reports that 25% of highway deaths occur in the 8 southeastern states. And 64% of those are on rural roads. A university traffic expert concludes that the south has a greater density of such roads and that the climate is inductive to heavier vegetation, especially trees. The tone of the article is that the blame is with the trees and not with the fact that most of the crashes were in the dark on weekends by tired or drunk drivers who were males age 16 to 25.
So, the stated solution is to remove the trees and make expensive major modern improvements to the roads. Yes, of course this is needed but taxpayer money does not grow on trees. Can you offer another way to curb this mayhem in these “red” states?
Incidentally, live trees are very resilient and bounce back a double-whammy when hit. Metal utility poles bend and wooden ones snap over. If you have a choice hit the pole!
GHD347 all rights reserved. wellnessebooks.com/ebookstore.asp
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist
BELTS WIN, HELMETS LOSE
PANTHERSVILLE, GA.: Our reader zig@xyz.somewhere.biz reports some interesting newer traffic death/injury statistics which he gathered from various government and university sources. In brief, year 2003 saw improvement in the use of safety belts and decline in helmet use by cyclists. There were 1% fewer auto/truck/pedestrian losses and 12% more motorcycle related losses. More frightening, since 1997 motorcycle deaths increased by 73% due to more cycles on the roadways and fewer riders wearing protective helmets.
So the good news is that in 2003 only 1.48 persons died per 100 million miles traveled by all types of motorized vehicles! That is, if a decline to 42,643 killed and 2.9 million injured is good. That includes 3,662 motorcyclists and 4,789 pedestrians wasted. It appears we have our own home grown terrorism which we must defeat.
The data on safety belt usage is weak because there is no good way to gather it. It is estimated by counting vehicle passengers at certain locations in daylight hours and extrapolating for totals. But even so, an increase to 79% of occupants in 2003 from 72% in 2002 is encouraging.
An increasing worrisome fact is that the USA population of age 65+ drivers is about to expand greatly. Fatalities and injuries for older persons are higher than for younger ones. This is due to the decline in physical and mental agility as we age, making it more difficult to control vehicles. Also, older persons become more fragile and heal slower, if ever. This gets us back to our need for continued driver re-training, safer vehicles, safer roadways and adequate alternate transportation.
Speaking of safer roadways: an Associated Press release reports that 25% of highway deaths occur in the 8 southeastern states. And 64% of those are on rural roads. A university traffic expert concludes that the south has a greater density of such roads and that the climate is inductive to heavier vegetation, especially trees. The tone of the article is that the blame is with the trees and not with the fact that most of the crashes were in the dark on weekends by tired or drunk drivers who were males age 16 to 25.
So, the stated solution is to remove the trees and make expensive major modern improvements to the roads. Yes, of course this is needed but taxpayer money does not grow on trees. Can you offer another way to curb this mayhem in these “red” states?
Incidentally, live trees are very resilient and bounce back a double-whammy when hit. Metal utility poles bend and wooden ones snap over. If you have a choice hit the pole!
GHD347 all rights reserved. wellnessebooks.com/ebookstore.asp
posted by WRECK-LESS at Saturday, December 25, 2004
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