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Cars are the #2 cause of death for kids, edged out only by guns: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmc2201761 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmc2

Cars are the #2 cause of death for kids, edged out only by guns: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmc2201761 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmc2201761 We can see by comparing the US to peer nations that most of these deaths are preventable -- Sweden, where Vision Zero originated, has like 80% fewer traffic fatalities. We just don't have the political will to do it. The very fact that you think this is hyperbolic is what I'm talking about. 40,000 dead in the US each year and the response is a collective shrug.

rootusrootus 4y ago
> The very fact that you think this is hyperbolic is what I'm talking about. 40,000 dead in the US each year and the response is a collective shrug. Nobody is saying we should not try to improve the statistic. About 1 in 100 deaths are because of a car accident. But it becomes hyperbole when people suggest we should implement draconian measures on what is probably the single most useful appliance in the history of mankind. You perceive as a shrug the fact that most people understand perspective.
- twobitshifter 4y ago
  A speed governor is not draconian. Limiting things to the maximum speed on federal roads would be a start. Further location based speed enforcement would require some investments.
- TulliusCicero 4y ago
  Most Americans flip out at things like replacing street parking with bus lanes, or allowing for higher density zoning than detached single family houses in large lots. We're a million miles away from "draconian" measures. I've been to Sweden a couple times and they're not exactly laboring under the authoritarian boot of multi-modal transport. If anything, the fact that most places in the US de facto mandate car ownership to do anything is far, far more draconian than providing residents with a variety of options. I don't deny that cars are tremendously useful, but we've nevertheless managed to overuse them.

rootusrootus 4y ago

> The very fact that you think this is hyperbolic is what I'm talking about. 40,000 dead in the US each year and the response is a collective shrug. Nobody is saying we should not try to improve the statistic. About 1 in 100 deaths are because of a car accident. But it becomes hyperbole when people suggest we should implement draconian measures on what is probably the single most useful appliance in the history of mankind. You perceive as a shrug the fact that most people understand perspective.

twobitshifter 4y ago
A speed governor is not draconian. Limiting things to the maximum speed on federal roads would be a start. Further location based speed enforcement would require some investments.
TulliusCicero 4y ago
Most Americans flip out at things like replacing street parking with bus lanes, or allowing for higher density zoning than detached single family houses in large lots. We're a million miles away from "draconian" measures. I've been to Sweden a couple times and they're not exactly laboring under the authoritarian boot of multi-modal transport. If anything, the fact that most places in the US de facto mandate car ownership to do anything is far, far more draconian than providing residents with a variety of options. I don't deny that cars are tremendously useful, but we've nevertheless managed to overuse them.