A Lot of People Will Die In Car Crashes in 2013

Happy New Year!

That title is not very "uplifting" but that's a fact.

According to The Car Connection car fatalities have been declining in the USA.

We are Numerous factors have contributed to America's steadily falling auto fatality rate. Perhaps most important are the safety features we've seen added to cars: from seatbelts to airbagsdown to around 38,000 a year on average.

Hmmm. I don't consider that number good but it is better. Safety features is a crappy way to look at what is saving us because it prevents us from looking at the bigger picture, the way we drive.

The more I talk about this topic the more frustrating it seems to become and the more I feel I make myself look a bit looney. So, possibly all I can do is just bide my time and wait for the computerized cars to come along.

I don't know but I still know that I do not want myself or my family to ever get crushed in a bunch of metal. I don't want it to happen to you either. I'd rather get eaten by a shark. OK, not really but you get my point.

Drive safe. Pay attention. Your car weighs a lot. Think about how fragile we are and how incredibly powerful the car is. How deadly.

Even if we lower the odds, it's safe to say around 30,000 Americans will die this year in car crashes.

Car Crashes, Looking the Facts in The Eye

When I start to talk about Fix The Toaster with people, they almost always laugh, initially.

Then I start talking about numbers.

Like that fact that about 115 Americans die daily in car crashes. Most of which are avoidable

The fact that about 40,000 Americans die annually in car crashes.

The fact that almost 1/2 million Americans die in car crashes every 10 years.

Bring this up as topic. See what kind of response you get. Let's get the wheels spinning.

Also, do you tell your kids how dangerous driving in a car is? We frighten them about pool safety, walking with scissors, wrapping things around their necks, guns but do you let them know how dangerous it is to be in a car? It is the number one killer of people under 25 in the USA. You probably don't, because you don't want to scare them.

Because we have to drive.

I think we need to really look this issue in the eye, it is scary and it needs to be fixed.

Some Books To Understand the Way We Drive

Gary Kavanagh of Gary Rides Bikes gave me suggestions on books to read that help shed insight unto our culture of driving. One book I had heard of, "Traffic" by Vanderbilt.

If you are like me your first thought might be a book on traffic. Yeah right, I'd rather read Popsugar.com or Google random people.

I will do the reading for you and try to talk about it here. I am curious to hear what Vanderbilt has to say from "Traffic." I think we might disagree on a few things. Although I am now a late merger due to his opinion on that.

Here are some other book suggestions via Gary.

"Driven To Kill: Vehicles as Weapons" by Rothe.

"Fighting Traffic" by Norton.

Some Car Crash Facts

I just Googled "unusual car crash facts" and came across an article by InfoBarrel. Here are the facts with my *thoughts. 1. About 40% of crashes that are fatal involve alcohol. If the accident takes place between midnight and 3am the percentage increases to about 75%.

***having been a waitress I can unofficially confirm that most people on the roads in the evening have been drinking. I used to be amazed at the amount of drunk or highly buzzed people getting into their cars at the valet line as I walked back to my car after my shift. So, there's my research there. Oh and just living life, I think we might be able to concur on this fact. Although MADD has done an AMAZING job at helping lower the amount of drunk drivers!

2. On average 15 pedestrian school children are killed by school buses each year. These deaths tend to take place between 3pm and 4pm on weekdays.

**This is news to me.

3. Survey's suggest that male drivers cause twice as many accidents as female drivers.

**I can say that the couple of times I have felt very unsafe have been with young male drivers. Either trying to show off for me, this was a long time ago, or show off for the other males in the car. I believe this one. Which make me wonder, ladies does a speeder turn you on or a safe driver?

4. Different types of car accidents include head on collisions, rollovers, rear enders, suicides, side impacts and more. The most deadly of these accidents are the vehicle rollovers.

**My best friend in LA died in a rollover in 2008 here. Sucks all around.

5. People between the ages of 16-20 face a higher chance of being injured or killed in a car crash over any other age group.

**disheartening, teenagers are such a different mentality. I kind of understand this one.

6. Most car accidents actually occur within 5 kilometres from home. There is a common misconception that car accidents occur while travelling to a vacation destination, but this is not the case.

**Easy to forget this one.

7. Car accidents are the most common and most deadly source of personal injury in the world.

**Hellooooooo world. Let's change this.

8. Cars that are more prone to accidents are sports cars and hatchbacks. Although cars that have a bigger engine that have the greatest chance in being in a car accident.

**Wondering what the variable is, the sports car or the driver of a sports car? Why do cars with bigger engine have the greatest chance of getting into a car accident? That requires a google or my human google machine, my spouse. OK just googled it and Freakonomics answered that. Here is what they say:

Ever since the SUV craze began in the late 1980s, we’ve all known that heavier vehicles are safer for those driving them, but more dangerous for others on the road. Which is why we all started driving them.

We show that, controlling for own-vehicle weight, being hit by a vehicle that is 1,000 pounds heavier results in a 47% increase in the baseline fatality probability. Estimation results further suggest that the fatality risk is even higher if the striking vehicle is a light truck (SUV, pickup truck, or minivan).

9. Each year, approximately 300,000 teens are injured in a car crash. In the United States alone 5,000 teens die each year. On average that equals to 14 teens a day.

**Very sad. Moms, we need to change this stat. Stat.

10. Your chances of getting into a car crash while talking on a cellphone increases by 400%.

**Get off your phone while driving. Get your friends of their phones. Get your mom off her phone and dad. Never, ever worth it.