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My theory of why we ignore car crashes as a source of deaths boils down to a basic reality of American politics: old people vote. I'm a volunteer firefighter i
by leroy_masochist 4y ago
My theory of why we ignore car crashes as a source of deaths boils down to a basic reality of American politics: old people vote.
I'm a volunteer firefighter in a rural town in the Northeast. We handle a fairly large area and go to about 80 motor vehicle accident calls a year, of which about 20-25 require patient extrication and about 5-8 involve one or more fatalities.
More of these MVAs involve a non-intoxicated elderly person who made a driving error than involve an intoxicated driver (that's including people who nod off on heroin, not just drunks).
If we had a clear-eyed view of risk mitigation, we'd make people over, say, 75 take a comprehensive vision and neuromotor exam to keep their drivers licenses current but we don't, because old people vote.
- rootusrootus 4y agoNationally, close to 30% of all traffic fatalities are caused by drunk driving. About 20% of all fatalities are elderly.
- leroy_masochist 4y agoOur area has an older-than-average population so I guess this tracks.
- ip26 4y agoThere’s more to it, elderly who can’t drive wind up stranded & isolated which is a problem in itself. If we look the other way when they slowly become unfit to drive, we aren’t forced to solve those other problems.
- leroy_masochist 4y agoYeah, this is a good point. There are a lot of lonely and sad old people out there, many of them living in increasingly hoarder-y situations as they age and lose executive function. We go on some pretty sad medical calls/welfare checks. Check in on your old relatives.