The automobile, a tool invented to safely transport people with all its crumple zones, airbags, seat belts, safety glass, computers and various safety systems; kills more people every year in the United States than the gun; a tool invented to kill.
Huh? WTF? Yep.....the automobile is more deadly than the gun. Wake up! Scary huh?
It is true. Over the last few decades, roughly speaking.....
every year fire arm deaths are in the 30,000's and motor vehicle deaths in the 40,000's, check it....
year........fire arm deaths.......motor vehicle deaths
1999...........28,874......................41,717
2000..........28,663.....................41,945
2004..........29,569.....................42,836
2007..........31,224......................41,059
You might be saying this can't be true. I got my facts from Wikipedia and the CDC. I first read this in BikeSnobNYC's book (a great, great great read by the way!)
Automobile Deaths in the United States
This is a screen shot from the CDC website. There is no way to link the actual page due to the way the information is collected, but if you click here you can access all kinds of statistics.
Soooo. How is this possible? Its a symptom of how the whole paradigm is whacked! The police and politricks are full of "safety first" and "protecting people" with their rhetoric, while the real problem goes unchecked. There is a rarely enforced 3-foot passing rule in this state as well many others. There is no patience. There is no true regard for life and health. Where are the police? Where are the elected officials "concerned" for our safety?
Anyone can get a freakin' driver's license and go out and terrorize and maim and kill. Hmmm...lets get all crazy and Patriot Act about this. Lets compare to how many Americans die yearly from terrorist acts versus from automobiles. Think about it.
No, really, think about how whack the system really is. Safety is a mostly a bullshit buzzword. The reality is laws, attitudes and behavior put many, many things above safety. How many drivers swerve or drive or park in the "bikelane"? How much do politicians speak about gun-control and gun danger and guns and the young? How often do they speak of driving safer? Driving with more respect? It makes NO SENSE. None.
Ride safe. Remember that beeping revving car has absolutely no more right to the road than you. The fact that a car is more deadly, heavier, faster or more powerful than a bicycle does NOT give it more rights. The fact it costs more than your bike or may be in a hurry does not give it the right to bully you off the road. Call the police. Report bullying. Report unsafe driving. You have the right to be safe and pedal in peace. Ride Safe. Ride Smart.
The penalty for a moving violation is nothing. i run a stopsign, it cost me 100$ or so plus increase in insurance. It should be 500$ min. plus the license gets suspended for 7 days. Also give the proceeds to the towns that collect them. now they all go to the state.
ReplyDeleteThere's no doubt cars and guns are both dangerous, but I'm not sure you can decisively say one is more dangerous than the other based on number of deaths alone. I'm guessing there are a lot more cars in the country than guns and they are used a lot more frequently. You need to look at some kind of rate. Deaths per car vs. deaths per gun perhaps?
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should try to guess how many people would die per year in the US if 200 million people took a gun out for two hours every day?
Cars vs. guns is an exercise in irrelevancy. A more appropriate comparision would be cars vs. airplanes (or trains, or buses, or motorcycles). Someone once observed that the annual death toll from motor-vehicle related incidents is the equivalent of a loaded commercial jet "buying the farm" every two days. Why are many people leery of air travel, yet hop into their cars without a second thought? Part of it is that for most Americans, air travel is a "special occasion", while driving is part of daily life. I've come up with a number of other possible explanations: Victims of auto wrecks usually number from 1 to 4, while plane crashes take people out by the dozen. I don't know if anyone has done a study on this aspect, but it seems that motor vehicle wreck fatalities are often people on the lower level of the economy, and thus not as newsworthy. Airline travelers are more likely to be "people who matter". And we also have to consider that most of our news media receive a lot of their ad revenue from auto manufacturers, car dealers, etc. One radio station I listen to for the news while driving seems to be supported mostly by luxury car dealers ("find the Mercedes of your dreams at Umlaut Motors!") and various moneylenders. An example of how the "powers that be" are often not safety conscious is the fact that Mothers Against Drunk Driving had to fight for years to get significant increases in the penalties for DUI. This might be traced to a considerable percentage of "boozehounds" in our legislatures. Lax driver licensing is another factor; the auto industry will naturally resist any move that will reduce the number of drivers, and they also make money from "crash parts" to repair the damage caused by careless drivers. And in most of our country, taking away someone's license is tantamount (or so it seems to many Americans) to locking a ball and chain around his or her ankle.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points, but Wikipedia? Really? The data is all out there on reputable sites.
ReplyDeleteWill, I'm with ya that cars are more dangerous than most folks believe. Especially when handled irresponsibly or intentionally as weapons. I think a
ReplyDelete. . F150 can be a much more effective weapon than an innaccurate pistol.
ReplyDeleteMore bikes = more safe
yesterday danny V said, "i don't care about statistics, i worry when i got a 3 ton metal dumpster barreling down at me!" ha! quote of the day! thanks dude.
ReplyDelete@ schleppi. yeah, really. soooo... if that data is that easy to find in an easy to read format like the wiki link, please comment with the link and i'll add it. awesome! thanks! otherwise, not sure i get yer point!?!?
i found it kinda scary that about 1/4 of hartford's population is killed every year by motor vehicles in the US.
seems like a bad summer between reading this blog, hearing from CT roadie friends and what i'm seeing here in key weird. mos def got my panties in a bunch and i am sick of jackass drivers hitting or almost hitting friends....or anyone of course for that matter....with "excuses" like "i didn't see you" or getting off with not so much as a warning from the popo. things gotta change. life is too precious to die needlessly and life is too short not to enjoy riding as much as possible :)
i looked up some statistics from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...
ReplyDeleteWhile in 2009 there were total of 30797 fatal crashes and of these bikers were 630.
Looking at their data, overall, going back to 1994 on average there are 37K fatalities a year, with average of 736 bikers and 4929 pedestrians.
as sad as that is, that 736 bikers a year is a very small number, only 2% of all motor vehicle deaths, and is almost 7x less than what pedestrians get hit.
as a biker, when a car wizzes by too close and i wish there was a cop somewhere, i'm trying to think realistically and realize that there won't be a cop looking out for biker safety on every block.
statistically speaking, bikers are probably not worth it in terms of the resources needed to create safety checkpoints and some other enforcement points. on my commute to work, i have maybe seen another commuter no more than 10 times in the year and a half that i've been riding.
736 people is about 15 people per state; you tell me what state is going to devote major resources to protecting 15 people out of their whole population?
sad truth is we're just not high of a priority; ironically, i'm thankful that there are so little deaths.
http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/106474-selling-ice-cups-from-the-side-porch-window
ReplyDeleteCalifornia Bikes This cruiser also has a forward pedaling desigen, meaning the pedals are shifted four inches forward to allow for better leg extension and more open and comfortable seating postiion.
ReplyDeletecruiser bikes
Really shocking figures. But we are aware with that many people are killed in car and road accidents. But this is happened for bad driving.
ReplyDeleteThe California Bikes looking very amazing and expensive. It has come with and great a figures. I am so excited for that.
ReplyDeleteOne side automobile industry growing day by day, Owning a car becomes quite easy, Car owners increasing incredibly and other side these figures would disappointed many.
ReplyDelete"The California motorcycle" Cruiser also design pedaling forward, meaning the pedals is shifted four inches forward to allow for the extension of the leg better, more open and more comfortable seating position.
ReplyDeleteIts quite sad to hear that road accident ratio is increasing so much that more people are killing by cars rather than Guns.
ReplyDelete