"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Sat, 2 Jul 2005, Ivan wrote:
>
> > WASHINGTON --The highway fatality rate sank to a record low last year,
> > the government estimated Thursday, but the administration and auto
> > safety advocates bemoaned an increase in the total number of traffic
> > deaths and urged a national focus on seat belt use.
>
> Uh-huh. Meanwhile, 15 nations are safer than the US in terms of deaths per
> thousand vehicles, and nine nations are safer than the US in terms of
> deaths for same travel distance - data from the various countries is he
>
> http://www.scienceservingsociety.com/m/data/USrank.xls

Interesting reference. Thanks.

>
> > The fatality rate slid from 1.48 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles
> > traveled in 2003 to 1.46 deaths in 2004. It was the lowest since records
> > were first kept in 1966, when the rate was 5.50 deaths.
>
> Uh-huh. Taking a look at that data, we see that the 2004 death rate (which
> translates to 9.1 per billion kilometres) was bested in 2002 by Canada,
> Australia, The Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and the
> UK. The UK and Australian results are particularly interesting, since
> those countries have the greatest commonality with North America in terms
> of roadway geometries and conditions and (with respect to Australia)
> distances.

Although Australia is a realtively large country, it is not really like the
US in terms of population density. It is even more urbanized than the US (in
terms of percentage of population living in urban areas). Although the total
land area of Australia is about the same as the lower 48 US states, most of
it is practically empty (even more so than the American west). Most people
live along the coast in relatively densley populated areas. I am not sure
how this affects traffic patterns. I suppose it might be like the east or
west coast of the US in terms of traffic. Austrialia also has a much higher
percentage of people riding public transist than the US and somewhat lower
average traffic speeds.

http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/pdf/materials/95.pdf lists average traffic
speeds for different areas. As expected the US has the highest average
traffic speed. They used a bar chart to show the comparison. It is not
finely divided, so the listing below is just an estimate:

Asia - 15.5 mph
Australia - 27.5 mph
Canada - 25 mph
Europe - 19.5 mph
US - 31.5 mph

This data is fairly old (report was from 2000, data is probably several
years older) but I suspect the relative numbers are still valid. If
anything, I'd guess average US traffic speeds have increased faster than the
rest of the world. Still the US, Canada, and Austrlia are close enough for a
valid comparison.

http://www.driveandstayalive.com/inf...apita_2003.htm
has a chart comparing individual US State's motor vehicle deaths per capita
to various countries. The data is a little older (2002/2003) but
interesting. The Northeastern US States compare favorably with the best
countries in the world. Southern and Western US States have much higher per
capitia motor vehicle death rates.

The US has one of the highest per capitia motor vehicle death rates in the
world. However, we also have the highest number of miles driven per person
per year.

> I suppose NHTSA does need to put a positive spin on it, though. They can't
> exactly say "We're pounding our chests about what a great 'n' groovy job
> we're doing, and we're making a lot of noise about how our cars are the
> safest and best in the whole wide world, even though it's, um, not true".

We also have the highest average speeds. The fact that in many areas
marginally competent drivers have no alternatives to motor vehicles is also
a factor.

Ed