Frog Hospital's Fred Owens And "Pax On Both Houses" Discuss Terror Threat
Excerpt: Although the number of automobile deaths in the U.S. is down from 55,000 to 32,000 per year, we still experience twice as many deaths "per mile driven" than European societies.
Yet no one even suggests we imitate Europe by redesigning American cars, highways, drivers education courses and our system of jurisprudence in order to eliminate 16,000 needless deaths a year.
That's 240,000 needless deaths since 9/11.
Yet no one even suggests we imitate Europe by redesigning American cars, highways, drivers education courses and our system of jurisprudence in order to eliminate 16,000 needless deaths a year.
That's 240,000 needless deaths since 9/11.
No one cares.
It's a non-issue.
The prevention of 160,000 deaths per decade -- deaths that WILL OCCUR (in the absence of regulatory intervention) -- doesn't even rise to radar.
The prevention of 160,000 deaths per decade -- deaths that WILL OCCUR (in the absence of regulatory intervention) -- doesn't even rise to radar.
Do you know anyone (or do you even know anyone who knows anyone) who has been injured or killed in a terror attack. (I know one person whose brother-in-law was on a lower floor of a Twin Tower but got out in time.)
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A Dangerous Road
U.S. Road Deaths Are Unacceptably High And Easily Prevented
U.S. Road Deaths Are Unacceptably High And Easily Prevented
By Kenneth Moritsugu | Contributor
July 22, 2016
Far more Americans die in road crashes every year than in virtually any other rich nation of the world, when measuring deaths by population. That's been the case for years, but now last year is shaping up to be America's deadliest traffic year in a decade. As a former acting surgeon general, but more importantly, as a husband and a father who lost a wife and daughter in separate road crashes, I ask myself, how did we get here?
This new spike in deaths is an achy reminder that U.S. policy lags when it comes to preventing road carnage. To save thousands of lives, and take our place among developed nations, we must reduce some speed limits, fix our roads, create stronger policies and enforce existing laws against speeding, driving while intoxicated or distracted and other road risks.
While some are clamoring for less government involvement, what we need now is more engagement and more political will. Here's why:
For the past five years, U.S. road deaths have hovered at about 10.6 for every 100,000 Americans. That number is expected to climb to 12.5 deaths per 100,000, an 8 percent increase, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration releases 2015 year-end data. That's about 40,000 deaths each year, enough to fill more than half of FedEx Field, home to Washington, D.C.'s professional football team.
Ten or so road-related deaths for every 100,000 Americans may not seem high until we look at other countries. Brits, Swedes, and Swiss die at about one-third of the U.S. rate. The death rate on Japanese and Australian roads is less than half of the U.S. rate. Canadian roads, are a bit more than half.
Ten or so road-related deaths for every 100,000 Americans may not seem high until we look at other countries. Brits, Swedes, and Swiss die at about one-third of the U.S. rate. The death rate on Japanese and Australian roads is less than half of the U.S. rate. Canadian roads, are a bit more than half.
To find other nations with road death rates similar to ours, we must look to countries such as Azerbaijan, Panama or Latvia. But if we consider Croatia, Turkey or Bulgaria, we will see they are outpacing the U.S. in keeping road users safe.
Beyond the profound human suffering, road crashes cost every American. They reduce U.S. gross domestic product by 2-3 percent a year, and ratchet up health care costs and insurance premiums. Crash-related direct economic costs shot up 24 percent in the first half of 2015, hitting $152 billion. That's nearly $1,000 for every American.
We can and should do better. Too many lives hang in the balance. More than 31,000 Americans would be saved every year, if our roads were as safe as in the U.K. That's more than the entire population of Newport, Rhode Island, or Naples, Florida.
The Together for Safer Roads Expert Panel, which I chair, concluded that making the world's roads safer requires a raft of changes that cut across infrastructure, behavior, vehicles and more. The greatest problems exist in the developing world, but those gaps should not mask issues that can and should be faced in nations like ours.
Some U.S. cities and states, such as New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C., are taking strong actions, but more must be done nationwide. Here are a few places to start:
Some U.S. cities and states, such as New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C., are taking strong actions, but more must be done nationwide. Here are a few places to start:
Though one-third of traffic deaths are speed-related, 34 states raised speed limits on some roads since 1995; they are at 80 miles per hour in Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming and 85 mph in Texas. Unlike the autobahn, many of these roads were not designed for high speeds.
Twelve states failed to set up sobriety checkpoints as of this month, and only 21 states have made alcohol interlocks required or highly incentivized for all convicted drunk drivers, which prevents a car from starting if the driver’s breath indicates an alcohol level that exceeds the legal limit.
Just 14 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands ban handheld phone use by all drivers. Motorcycle helmets are universally required in just 19 states and the District of Columbia across the country.
Our nation's record of road deaths is a silent epidemic, one that's preventable with an injection of political will. In this most political of seasons, where so much is being said about so little, where is the discussion about deaths we can prevent right now on our roads?
The candidates owe that much to every American at risk today and to the many thousands, like my wife and daughter, whose lives were cut short.
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