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> Since then, thanks to stricter laws, more comprehensive education regarding alcohol safety, and the development of technology such as ignition interlock devic

by donatj 5y ago

> Since then, thanks to stricter laws, more comprehensive education regarding alcohol safety, and the development of technology such as ignition interlock device, DUI-related fatalities have decreased by almost 80 percent. In 2017, 1,064 people were killed as a result of drunk driving. I'd suggest it's a large part if not almost entirely the massive improvements in crash safety that's taken place in automobiles. The improvements in that time range are insane and truly awesome.

lokar 5y ago
Yeah, the rate of crashes would be the better metric
deepsquirrelnet 5y ago
Yea, I think so too. I just looked it up and vehicle deaths per 100k dropped from like ~20 to ~10 between 1982 and 2012. Of course, that is inclusive of DUI deaths, so they can't be decoupled in that data point. It's harder to find information about total alcohol-related accidents, but I did see one chart from Wisconsin, where it appeared that number of crashes dropped significantly between the late 70s to mid 80s, but has remained mostly constant since then.
Retric 5y ago
Improvements in safety are largely offset by more drivers, so the total number of fatalities per year in the US hasn’t decreased very rapidly. 2019 had 36,096 deaths, while the maximum ever was in 1972 at 54,589. Fatalities per 100 million VMT on the other hand shows real improvements, from 4.33 in 1972 down to 1.10 in 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in...
isomel 5y ago
Also, the car having automated sound alerts, or following the road and breaking automatically helps
- dzhiurgis 5y ago
  My car has automatic braking, but no electronic stability control system.
  - kube-system 5y ago
    Outside of the US, I assume? The US required stability control in 55% of passenger vehicles in 2009 and 100% in 2012
    - dzhiurgis 5y ago
      NZ. It's an import from Japan and slightly predates the mandates above. Thanks - interesting, I didn't know it's already required. Makes a lot of sense - it did save my ass few times on other cars.

by donatj 5y ago

lokar 5y ago

Yeah, the rate of crashes would be the better metric

deepsquirrelnet 5y ago

Yea, I think so too. I just looked it up and vehicle deaths per 100k dropped from like ~20 to ~10 between 1982 and 2012. Of course, that is inclusive of DUI deaths, so they can't be decoupled in that data point. It's harder to find information about total alcohol-related accidents, but I did see one chart from Wisconsin, where it appeared that number of crashes dropped significantly between the late 70s to mid 80s, but has remained mostly constant since then.

Retric 5y ago

Improvements in safety are largely offset by more drivers, so the total number of fatalities per year in the US hasn’t decreased very rapidly. 2019 had 36,096 deaths, while the maximum ever was in 1972 at 54,589. Fatalities per 100 million VMT on the other hand shows real improvements, from 4.33 in 1972 down to 1.10 in 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in...

isomel 5y ago

Also, the car having automated sound alerts, or following the road and breaking automatically helps

dzhiurgis 5y ago
My car has automatic braking, but no electronic stability control system.
- kube-system 5y ago
  Outside of the US, I assume? The US required stability control in 55% of passenger vehicles in 2009 and 100% in 2012
  - dzhiurgis 5y ago
    NZ. It's an import from Japan and slightly predates the mandates above. Thanks - interesting, I didn't know it's already required. Makes a lot of sense - it did save my ass few times on other cars.