[ExI] US traffic deaths dropped to new low

[spike]

>On Behalf Of BillK

2011/4/5 Max More commented:
>> U.S. traffic deaths dropped by 3 percent to a record annual low of 
...

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>...So fewer traffic deaths has multiple reasons.  No magic bullet
here...BillK


Ja.  I suspect there are a number of subtle items that make a difference,
such as improvements in tires.  In the 1990s, Japan incorporated started
developing stock motorcycles which would go 190 mph.  Those kinds of speeds
require special tires, otherwise the centrifugal force can unseat the bead
on the rim, causing the tubeless tire to lose pressure, which can be harmful
or seriously fatal at those speeds.  The fast bikes came stock with those
tires, but they are expensive, so a problem arose: yahoos would buy the
bikes new, wear out the tires, replace with lower rated cheaper tires, sell
the bike, the next owner gets it out, turns it loose, tire fails, prole is
slain.  

Answer: tire companies dropped their cheaper lines, made all their tires
capable of taking insane speeds, result: everyone pays more for rubber, but
all bikers are actually safer.

spike