[ExI] US traffic deaths dropped to new low

[BillK]

On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 7:40 AM, spike  wrote:
> The point of my bringing in the two websites citing numbers disparate by a
> factor of 8 is that the numbers you ask for are elusive.  They depend on how
> you count.  There isn't a clear right or wrong way to reduce messy human
> interactions to numbers.  Even counting homicides doesn't completely get at
> the problem, because plenty of what are defined as traffic fatalities are
> actually homicides.  Do they get double counted?  There isn't a clear answer
> to this one.


Spike,

80% of traffic fatalities are people in the vehicle. (Driver or passengers).
Roughly another 10% are motorcyclists and the other 10% are pedestrians.

Traffic fatalities are roughly 50% Urban and 50% Rural.
(Possibly surprising considering the difference in population size
between Rural and Urban).


Mass transit would not reduce the 50% Rural fatalities because the
population is too low to support mass transit, Rural people have to
drive themselves,


BillK




>
>>...I note that while deaths due to cars are 32,000, I see 15,000-18,000 for
> murder or homicide rates...
>
> Ja.  If someone is driving drunk and manages to slay themselves and their
> passengers, how is that counted?  Why is that counted?  I would consider it
> a suicide.  If racing triple digits on a motorcycle, how?  I can give a
> personal example of a colleague who perished just that way, and that one was
> ruled a suicide for insurance purposes and a traffic fatality for legal
> purposes.
>
>
>>> suit of armor.  We have the option of carrying our 38 caliber lance
>> tucked down between the seats.  Even if that isn't safer, it sure as
>> hell feels safer.
>
>>..."Damn the facts, I feel better!"
>
> If this could be reduced to numbers I would do it.  Driving risk can be
> enormously reduced by taking a few simple precautions, very simple ones.
> Similarly, risk of homicide can be greatly reduced just by staying out of
> that section of town where they happen.  Do you not know where that is?
> Visit the local police station, likely they have a map with pins in there.
> Note how tightly they cluster.  Stay out of there.
>
>>...Your "rolling suit of armor" is an enemy tank in someone else's hands...
> -xx- Damien X-)
>
> Enemy tank, cool, I like that.  {8^D
>
> Just this evening, I was trying to find the Palace of Fine Arts in San
> Francisco.  I thought I was close, but I was lost.  I saw a street called
> Broderick, stopped to take a picture for my own friend and your namesake.
> Broke down and suffered the excruciating humiliation of asking directions.
> The guy told me I should leave my car where it was and walk the rest of the
> way, a couple blocks.  Found it, loved the show.
>
> Afterwards, coming back at about 1030 PM, I was in the city in a
> neighborhood I didn't know, at night.  I breathed a long sigh of relief when
> I could slam the door on my Detroit, lock it and reach for Sir Remington,
> just to know it is there.  I guess that would be my turret in your apt
> analogy.  That was another case where the statistics are not clear, but it
> sure felt safer.
>
> spike
>
>
>
>
>
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