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Except road "accidents" are the biggest killer of teenagers aged 10-19, people who are pretty much on the lowest possible spot on the natural mortality curve:

Except road "accidents" are the biggest killer of teenagers aged 10-19, people who are pretty much on the lowest possible spot on the natural mortality curve: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39920052 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39920052 For many of those, it was someone else deciding to drive that killed them. So yes, if you take slanted statistics and add some "but look over there" rationalizations... well, you still end up at "1 in 3 accidental deaths". What you should be looking at is comparative injury rates for other methods of transport such as rail or tram. The picture is rather shocking, but even more concerning is the lack of a safety culture in the car manufacturers and ultimately the agencies regulating them and the vehicles on the road. Every plane crash has a root cause investigation, but we still have the same truck designs with massive blind spots because...? By the time autonomous driving becomes a reality cars will still have side mirrors with blind spots, you can't make this stuff up.

YokoZar 9y ago
A more complete analysis of death rates compares the cause of death vs the otherwise expected lifespan of the person. Cancer and heart disease are major killers, but they primarily affect old unhealthy people. Car crashes and suicides are much more likely to kill young people -- while they may be a relatively small proportion of "total deaths" they are a much larger contributor to "loss of average lifespan"
- valuearb 9y ago
  Driving is super safe. There is no evidence that driving is any less safe for young people. They just rarely die of anything.
  - YokoZar 9y ago
    Right. Which is why when they do die from preventable causes it has such a large impact on average lifespan. If we want more humans alive for longer we should not ignore these high impact relatively low frequency dangers. If you're under the age of 35, driving may very well be the most dangerous habit you have.
    - valuearb 9y ago
      If you are under the age of 35, you are essentially immortal, because if driving is incredibly safe and it is the most dangerous thing you do.
valuearb 9y ago
Yea, young people almost only die in accidents, so obviously cars would be a large proportion of their almost infinitesimal death rates.
- revelation 9y ago
  Well yes, that is what we are trying to figure out here?! What is killing healthy people not expected to die shortly? For people approaching 90, everything from a fall to a cut can be deadly. But that tells us more about 90 year olds than cuts or falls.
  - valuearb 9y ago
    Driving is super safe. There is no evidence that driving is any less safe for young people. They just rarely die of anything. Your argument is akin to arguing the most egregious type of death is abortion, because it costs someone their entire lifespan
    - falsedan 9y ago
      > no evidence that driving is any less safe for young people Glad you checked all that evidence for us, saves us the hassle.

YokoZar 9y ago

A more complete analysis of death rates compares the cause of death vs the otherwise expected lifespan of the person. Cancer and heart disease are major killers, but they primarily affect old unhealthy people. Car crashes and suicides are much more likely to kill young people -- while they may be a relatively small proportion of "total deaths" they are a much larger contributor to "loss of average lifespan"

valuearb 9y ago
Driving is super safe. There is no evidence that driving is any less safe for young people. They just rarely die of anything.
- YokoZar 9y ago
  Right. Which is why when they do die from preventable causes it has such a large impact on average lifespan. If we want more humans alive for longer we should not ignore these high impact relatively low frequency dangers. If you're under the age of 35, driving may very well be the most dangerous habit you have.
  - valuearb 9y ago
    If you are under the age of 35, you are essentially immortal, because if driving is incredibly safe and it is the most dangerous thing you do.

valuearb 9y ago

Yea, young people almost only die in accidents, so obviously cars would be a large proportion of their almost infinitesimal death rates.

revelation 9y ago
Well yes, that is what we are trying to figure out here?! What is killing healthy people not expected to die shortly? For people approaching 90, everything from a fall to a cut can be deadly. But that tells us more about 90 year olds than cuts or falls.
- valuearb 9y ago
  Driving is super safe. There is no evidence that driving is any less safe for young people. They just rarely die of anything. Your argument is akin to arguing the most egregious type of death is abortion, because it costs someone their entire lifespan
  - falsedan 9y ago
    > no evidence that driving is any less safe for young people Glad you checked all that evidence for us, saves us the hassle.