Traffic Deaths Up Slightly, Truth Among The Victims

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

16,290 people were killed in road accidents from January through June, says the NHTSA. For the first time since 2006, deaths are up. The NHTSA does not know why fatalities are up, but the usual suspects have already been rounded up.

Said Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, to Reuters:

“Clearly there’s room for improvement in distracted driving – we would like all 50 states to pass texting bans. We’d practically eliminate alcohol impaired driving if we could get all offenders to use an ignition interlock.”

In the meantime, even the NHTSA warns that one should not jump to conclusions:

It should be noted that the historic downward trend in traffic fatalities in the past several years —a pattern which has continued through the early estimates for 2011 released recently that show deaths at a 60-year low — means any comparison will be to an unprecedented low baseline figure. In fact, fatalities during the first half of the year have declined by about 27 percent from the recent high in 2006 to the low during the first half of 2011 (from 20,500 fatalities in 2006 to a projected 14,950 fatalities in 2011 during the first six months of the year).”

Apparently, Ms. Harsha did not read that part. Instead she says that “We may just be going back to the way it was before.”

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Manbridge Manbridge on Oct 03, 2012

    So it hasn't been tried and you were fibbing. Thanks for being honest.

    • Pch101 Pch101 on Oct 03, 2012

      "So it hasn’t been tried and you were fibbing." Er, sure. Scared Straight programs don't work. They've been tried with all sorts of things, from trying to keep at-risk youth from going to prison to teen pregnancy to reckless driving to drug and alcohol use. http://www.prevention.org/inc/Publications/documents/ScaredStraight.pdf Programs of the Scared Straight variety not only don't work, but they often backfire. Teens often feel that the messages are heavy handed and exaggerated, so the programs can just make them cynical and less inclined to see how the messages apply to them. A problem with driver safety training generally is that drivers can do things that they shouldn't do many, many times without suffering any of the dire consequences that they were warned about. When drivers manage to get away with bad behavior time and time again, they assume that (a) they were lied to and (b) they're better at being bad than other people. They get exactly the wrong lesson from the warnings. With bad acts that don't lead to consequences, the driver becomes more confident and convinced that he is above average and superior to the schmucks who get screwed up and end up in "Red Asphalt" or the hospital. It doesn't work.

  • Dave M. Dave M. on Oct 03, 2012

    Darwinism. Which I'd agree to, if it didn't seem like 50% of Houston's fatalities were caused by the other driver.

  • Raded Raded on Oct 03, 2012

    Let's just make it legal to discharge a firearm at the vehicle of anyone who's texting. That'd clear things up pretty quick.

  • Beerboy12 Beerboy12 on Oct 03, 2012

    When I buy a car I pay close attention to the safety features. Not because I want to be able snooze, eat, drink, chat to my friends or text while I drive, but because I like to believe I have a well developed sense of self preservation and I know that there are people out there who do not. I choose not to text and drive. Legislation banning texting while driving would have zero affect for me and might lead to less stressful drives for everyone. The ignition lock, though, is just insidious and draconian. About the same as forcing cell phone makers to comply with disabling phones while driving... Just make it against the law and let the normal law enforcement processes take place.

    • See 1 previous
    • Burgersandbeer Burgersandbeer on Oct 03, 2012

      All distracted driving behavior should already be considered against the law everywhere already. Doesn't every single state and commonwealth have something along the lines of "reckless driving"? I don't know why lawmakers feel the need to itemize what qualifies as reckless driving. If the police see someone not in control of their vehicle doing something stupid behind the wheel, the should stop them and cite them with reckless driving. Enforcement is a whole different discussion.

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