44,000 DEATHS On Our Highways: And Nobody Cares!

Drugs

Booze

Speed

Teens

Jerks

Macho Men

Bikers

Other Fools

These substances and people types -- in various combinations -- kill
44,000 of U.S. citizens a year. It's been like this for decades. But
nothing substantive is ever done to reduce this carnage. Because
nobody cares.

Are YOU part of the problem?

---------

"A Deadly Story We Keep Missing"

By Peter J. Woolley
The Washington Post
Wednesday, December 27, 2006; A19

The non-story of 2006 was also the non-story of 2005. It is a non-story
every year going back decades. Yet the number of people who die in car
crashes in the United States is staggering, even if it is absent from
the agenda of most public officials and largely ignored by the public.

When all is said and done and the ball begins to drop on New Year's
Eve, 44,000 people, give or take several hundred, will have died in
auto accidents this year. To put that number in perspective, consider
that:

o At the 2006 casualty rate of 800 soldiers per year, the United
States would have to be in Iraq for more than 50 years to equal just
one year of automobile deaths back home.

o In any five-year period, the total number of traffic deaths in the
United States equals or exceeds the number of people who died in the
horrific South Asian tsunami in December 2004. U.S. traffic deaths
amount to the equivalent of two tsunamis every 10 years.

o According to the National Safety Council, your chance of dying in an
automobile crash is one in 84 over your lifetime. But your chances of
winning the Mega Millions lottery are just one in 175 million.

o If you laid out side by side 8-by-10 photos of all those killed in
crashes this year, the pictures would stretch more than five miles.

o If you made a yearbook containing the photos of those killed this
year, putting 12 photos on each page, it would have 3,500 pages. If you
wanted to limit your traffic-death yearbook to a manageable 400 pages,
you'd either have to squeeze more than 100 photos onto each page or
issue an eight-volume set.

Can you hear me now? Automobile deaths are the leading cause of death
for children, for teenagers and in fact for all people from age 3 to
33. Yet this annual tragedy is not a cause celebre.

Opinion leaders largely ignore the ubiquitous massacre. No marches,
walkathons, commemorative stamps or fundraising drives are organized.
It is not brought up in the State of the Union address. It is rarely
the subject of public affairs shows. Statistics aren't updated daily in
major newspapers or broadcasts.

Gruesome crashes are reported just one at a time, each as if it might
never happen again. Little attention is paid to the aftermath: safety
measures taken or not taken, the workings or non-workings of the
justice system. These avoidable deaths, as well as more than 2 million
nonfatal dismemberments, disfigurements and other injuries that go
along with them, have become part of the fabric of everyday life in the
United States.

Elected officeholders naturally take the path of least resistance. They
are well aware that significantly reducing deaths on the roads requires
radical solutions in the form of regulation, investment and
enforcement. Roads need to be made safer, for example, by extending
guardrails and medians to every mile of busy highways. Speeding and
aggressive driving need to be much more rigorously controlled. Trucks
need to be separated from automobiles wherever possible. And cars need
to be built slower and stronger.

But every solution is readily opposed by someone: manufacturers,
industrial unions, truckers, consumers, taxpayers -- though all are
potential victims themselves. The public is not to blame. It is hemmed
in on every side by mind-numbing advertising and shouted stories of the
moment. Apparently no medium is willing to bludgeon people -- as they
need to be -- with statistics and trends on the dangers facing them
every time they set out in their automobiles.

Only if there is a public outcry will this situation get the attention
due it. Only when people fully realize the absurd and avoidable costs
of the dangers that stalk them on the road -- and then demand
governmental action in the form of forceful intervention and strict
regulation -- will this become the story of the year, as it should be.

The writer is a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson
University and executive director of PublicMind, a public opinion
research group there.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...122600775.html


-----

> wrote in message
oups.com...

<snip>

>
> These substances and people types -- in various combinations -- kill
> 44,000 of U.S. citizens a year. It's been like this for decades. But
> nothing substantive is ever done to reduce this carnage. Because
> nobody cares.

If nobody cared, the M.A.D. organization wouldn't exist. If nobody cared,
the EMT and highway patrol professions wouldn't exist, and you'd simply be
left on the side of the road as road kill.

George

The great tragedy of science -- the
slaying of a beautiful hypothesis
by an ugly fact. - Thomas Huxley

I thought so. Another big government liberal trying to regulate
everyone's lives.

I care. That's why I wear my safety belt (and also everyone else
in my vehicle). I drive sober, awake, and at slow, safe speeds. I
do my best to not overdrive my headlights, signal all my turns,
anticipate the other driver, and leave a safe following distance.

Over the course of my 25 year driving career, I've had zero
fatalities, and one hospitalization. (Which, incidentally, was
me. I kept telling them I was fine, but the ambulance guys wanted
to do their thing.)

All of this with totally zero "massive government intervention".
Take your forceful government intervention and forcefully shove
it in your ass.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

> wrote in message

and then demand
> governmental action in the form of forceful intervention and
strict
> regulation -- will this become the story of the year, as it
should be.
>

But, he can't help you unless you call your legislator and demand
immediate and forceful regulation!

Liberals make me sick.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"George" > wrote in message
...
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>
> <snip>
>
> >
> > These substances and people types -- in various
combinations -- kill
> > 44,000 of U.S. citizens a year. It's been like this for
decades. But
> > nothing substantive is ever done to reduce this carnage.
Because
> > nobody cares.
>
> If nobody cared, the M.A.D. organization wouldn't exist. If
nobody cared,
> the EMT and highway patrol professions wouldn't exist, and
you'd simply be
> left on the side of the road as road kill.
>
> George
>
> The great tragedy of science -- the
> slaying of a beautiful hypothesis
> by an ugly fact. - Thomas Huxley
>
>

"Stormin Mormon" > wrote in message
...
>I thought so. Another big government liberal trying to regulate
> everyone's lives.
>
> I care. That's why I wear my safety belt (and also everyone else
> in my vehicle). I drive sober, awake, and at slow, safe speeds. I
> do my best to not overdrive my headlights, signal all my turns,
> anticipate the other driver, and leave a safe following distance.
>
> Over the course of my 25 year driving career, I've had zero
> fatalities

I think you deserve a Medal for zero fatalities!

"Stormin Mormon" > wrote in message ...
: But, he can't help you unless you call your legislator and demand
: immediate and forceful regulation!
:
: Liberals make me sick.
:
: --
:
: Christopher A. Young
: You can't shout down a troll.
: You have to starve them.
: .
:
: "George" > wrote in message
: ...
: >
: > > wrote in message
: > oups.com...
: >
: > <snip>
: >
: > >
: > > These substances and people types -- in various
: combinations -- kill
: > > 44,000 of U.S. citizens a year. It's been like this for
: decades. But
: > > nothing substantive is ever done to reduce this carnage.
: Because
: > > nobody cares.
: >
: > If nobody cared, the M.A.D. organization wouldn't exist. If
: nobody cared,
: > the EMT and highway patrol professions wouldn't exist, and
: you'd simply be
: > left on the side of the road as road kill.
: >
: > George
: >
: > The great tragedy of science -- the
: > slaying of a beautiful hypothesis
: > by an ugly fact. - Thomas Huxley
: >
: >
:
:

That's funny. Lying, closet case, girly boy, child molesting, repubicans make me sick....
:

How about a govenment grant?

Seriously, I'm pleased not to have injured anyone. That would be
miserable to live with.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Frank Arthur" > wrote in message
. ..
> >
> > Over the course of my 25 year driving career, I've had zero
> > fatalities
>
> I think you deserve a Medal for zero fatalities!
>
>

What a complete load of ****.

--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving
> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Drugs
>
> Booze
>
> Speed
>
> Teens
>
> Jerks
>
> Macho Men
>
> Bikers
>
> Other Fools
>
> These substances and people types -- in various combinations -- kill
> 44,000 of U.S. citizens a year. It's been like this for decades. But
> nothing substantive is ever done to reduce this carnage. Because
> nobody cares.
>
> Are YOU part of the problem?
>
> ---------
>
> "A Deadly Story We Keep Missing"
>
> By Peter J. Woolley
> The Washington Post
> Wednesday, December 27, 2006; A19
>
> The non-story of 2006 was also the non-story of 2005. It is a non-story
> every year going back decades. Yet the number of people who die in car
> crashes in the United States is staggering, even if it is absent from
> the agenda of most public officials and largely ignored by the public.
>
> When all is said and done and the ball begins to drop on New Year's
> Eve, 44,000 people, give or take several hundred, will have died in
> auto accidents this year. To put that number in perspective, consider
> that:
>
> o At the 2006 casualty rate of 800 soldiers per year, the United
> States would have to be in Iraq for more than 50 years to equal just
> one year of automobile deaths back home.
>
> o In any five-year period, the total number of traffic deaths in the
> United States equals or exceeds the number of people who died in the
> horrific South Asian tsunami in December 2004. U.S. traffic deaths
> amount to the equivalent of two tsunamis every 10 years.
>
> o According to the National Safety Council, your chance of dying in an
> automobile crash is one in 84 over your lifetime. But your chances of
> winning the Mega Millions lottery are just one in 175 million.
>
> o If you laid out side by side 8-by-10 photos of all those killed in
> crashes this year, the pictures would stretch more than five miles.
>
> o If you made a yearbook containing the photos of those killed this
> year, putting 12 photos on each page, it would have 3,500 pages. If you
> wanted to limit your traffic-death yearbook to a manageable 400 pages,
> you'd either have to squeeze more than 100 photos onto each page or
> issue an eight-volume set.
>
> Can you hear me now? Automobile deaths are the leading cause of death
> for children, for teenagers and in fact for all people from age 3 to
> 33. Yet this annual tragedy is not a cause celebre.
>
> Opinion leaders largely ignore the ubiquitous massacre. No marches,
> walkathons, commemorative stamps or fundraising drives are organized.
> It is not brought up in the State of the Union address. It is rarely
> the subject of public affairs shows. Statistics aren't updated daily in
> major newspapers or broadcasts.
>
> Gruesome crashes are reported just one at a time, each as if it might
> never happen again. Little attention is paid to the aftermath: safety
> measures taken or not taken, the workings or non-workings of the
> justice system. These avoidable deaths, as well as more than 2 million
> nonfatal dismemberments, disfigurements and other injuries that go
> along with them, have become part of the fabric of everyday life in the
> United States.
>
> Elected officeholders naturally take the path of least resistance. They
> are well aware that significantly reducing deaths on the roads requires
> radical solutions in the form of regulation, investment and
> enforcement. Roads need to be made safer, for example, by extending
> guardrails and medians to every mile of busy highways. Speeding and
> aggressive driving need to be much more rigorously controlled. Trucks
> need to be separated from automobiles wherever possible. And cars need
> to be built slower and stronger.
>
> But every solution is readily opposed by someone: manufacturers,
> industrial unions, truckers, consumers, taxpayers -- though all are
> potential victims themselves. The public is not to blame. It is hemmed
> in on every side by mind-numbing advertising and shouted stories of the
> moment. Apparently no medium is willing to bludgeon people -- as they
> need to be -- with statistics and trends on the dangers facing them
> every time they set out in their automobiles.
>
> Only if there is a public outcry will this situation get the attention
> due it. Only when people fully realize the absurd and avoidable costs
> of the dangers that stalk them on the road -- and then demand
> governmental action in the form of forceful intervention and strict
> regulation -- will this become the story of the year, as it should be.
>
> The writer is a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson
> University and executive director of PublicMind, a public opinion
> research group there.
>
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...122600775.html
>
>
> -----
>

I care....its called "Population Control" and "natural selection."

Sounds liek you need to be next.


> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Drugs
>
> Booze
>
> Speed
>
> Teens
>
> Jerks
>
> Macho Men
>
> Bikers
>
> Other Fools
>
> These substances and people types -- in various combinations -- kill
> 44,000 of U.S. citizens a year. It's been like this for decades. But
> nothing substantive is ever done to reduce this carnage. Because
> nobody cares.
>
> Are YOU part of the problem?
>
> ---------
>
> "A Deadly Story We Keep Missing"
>
> By Peter J. Woolley
> The Washington Post
> Wednesday, December 27, 2006; A19
>
> The non-story of 2006 was also the non-story of 2005. It is a non-story
> every year going back decades. Yet the number of people who die in car
> crashes in the United States is staggering, even if it is absent from
> the agenda of most public officials and largely ignored by the public.
>
> When all is said and done and the ball begins to drop on New Year's
> Eve, 44,000 people, give or take several hundred, will have died in
> auto accidents this year. To put that number in perspective, consider
> that:
>
> o At the 2006 casualty rate of 800 soldiers per year, the United
> States would have to be in Iraq for more than 50 years to equal just
> one year of automobile deaths back home.
>
> o In any five-year period, the total number of traffic deaths in the
> United States equals or exceeds the number of people who died in the
> horrific South Asian tsunami in December 2004. U.S. traffic deaths
> amount to the equivalent of two tsunamis every 10 years.
>
> o According to the National Safety Council, your chance of dying in an
> automobile crash is one in 84 over your lifetime. But your chances of
> winning the Mega Millions lottery are just one in 175 million.
>
> o If you laid out side by side 8-by-10 photos of all those killed in
> crashes this year, the pictures would stretch more than five miles.
>
> o If you made a yearbook containing the photos of those killed this
> year, putting 12 photos on each page, it would have 3,500 pages. If you
> wanted to limit your traffic-death yearbook to a manageable 400 pages,
> you'd either have to squeeze more than 100 photos onto each page or
> issue an eight-volume set.
>
> Can you hear me now? Automobile deaths are the leading cause of death
> for children, for teenagers and in fact for all people from age 3 to
> 33. Yet this annual tragedy is not a cause celebre.
>
> Opinion leaders largely ignore the ubiquitous massacre. No marches,
> walkathons, commemorative stamps or fundraising drives are organized.
> It is not brought up in the State of the Union address. It is rarely
> the subject of public affairs shows. Statistics aren't updated daily in
> major newspapers or broadcasts.
>
> Gruesome crashes are reported just one at a time, each as if it might
> never happen again. Little attention is paid to the aftermath: safety
> measures taken or not taken, the workings or non-workings of the
> justice system. These avoidable deaths, as well as more than 2 million
> nonfatal dismemberments, disfigurements and other injuries that go
> along with them, have become part of the fabric of everyday life in the
> United States.
>
> Elected officeholders naturally take the path of least resistance. They
> are well aware that significantly reducing deaths on the roads requires
> radical solutions in the form of regulation, investment and
> enforcement. Roads need to be made safer, for example, by extending
> guardrails and medians to every mile of busy highways. Speeding and
> aggressive driving need to be much more rigorously controlled. Trucks
> need to be separated from automobiles wherever possible. And cars need
> to be built slower and stronger.
>
> But every solution is readily opposed by someone: manufacturers,
> industrial unions, truckers, consumers, taxpayers -- though all are
> potential victims themselves. The public is not to blame. It is hemmed
> in on every side by mind-numbing advertising and shouted stories of the
> moment. Apparently no medium is willing to bludgeon people -- as they
> need to be -- with statistics and trends on the dangers facing them
> every time they set out in their automobiles.
>
> Only if there is a public outcry will this situation get the attention
> due it. Only when people fully realize the absurd and avoidable costs
> of the dangers that stalk them on the road -- and then demand
> governmental action in the form of forceful intervention and strict
> regulation -- will this become the story of the year, as it should be.
>
> The writer is a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson
> University and executive director of PublicMind, a public opinion
> research group there.
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...122600775.html
>
>
> -----
>