[extropy-chat] Driver safety and the immortalist

[BillK]

Excellent article from Reader's Digest.

As the article points out, the interstate freeways are the safest roads
to drive on. The traffic flows are separated by a barrier and there are
very few red lights or stop signs to run through.
"An overwhelming 86 percent of traffic fatalities happen on side roads
and byways." Just running down to the shops is really dangerous!

At almost all ages, males have much higher motor vehicle death rates per
100,000 people compared with females. The highest motor vehicle death
rate is among males 85 years and older and males age 16-24.

So try not to be too young or too old.  ;)
And for safety reasons, the females should drive and the males should 
just sit there criticizing their driving.  ;)

It is a mistake to assume that car occupant deaths are all from cars 
running into each other. Only 58% occurred in multiple-vehicle crashes.
42% of car occupant deaths in 2002 occurred in single-vehicle crashes.
In contrast, single-vehicle crashes represented 65% of crashes involving
SUVs and 59% of crashes involving pickups.
So SUVs and pickups seem to have a tendency to self-destruct.

And you are not safe even if you don't drive a car.
~25% of the total road deaths are non-car occupants,
e.g. pedestrians, motor-cyclists, bicyclists, etc.

Drive defensively, try and keep a big space between you and the idiot in
the car in front of you, always wear your seat belt, and don't assume
that just because you have the right-of-way that it is safe to proceed.
Assume that every other driver is a suicidal terrorist out to get you
and you won't go far wrong.  ;)


BillK