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For a long time it has bothered me that so many people die in accidents related to autos.

https://www.cars.com/articles/are-the-o ... 682154567/
"The individual American driver’s odds of dying as a result of an injury sustained in an automobile crash (which include pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists involved in car crashes) come out to about 1 in 77."

It seems to me that if the Lord tarries another 100-200 years, future generations will look back on the past century and wonder how in the world humans (and especially Christians) could be so concerned about disease and abortion and so unconcerned about auto related fatalities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_veh ... S._by_year

If we could eliminate drunk driving and driving to fast for the conditions, we could reduce fatalities by about 2/3. I think Christians should be helping to reduce these kinds of accidents.

But this still leaves another 1/3 that is mostly the price of "progress" and "being in a hurry". We are not content to drive at 30 MPH which would greatly reduce the number of fatalities. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-limit-won ... aster.html
Our individualistic mindset and "hurry" doesn't allow us to use/invest more in bus and train travel which are considerably safer.

I wrote about this topic on MennoDiscuss some years ago and thought maybe it is time to discuss this again.

i don’t recall this topic from MD, i’m glad you’re revisiting it.
i agree, and am perplexed at the unbalanced mainstream approach to what actually prematurely kills people, and potential preventive measures.

one idea i’ve muddled over would be to require minimum age and licenses for smartphones.
like, age 25 or so.
insurance companies keep stats on accidents and fatalities, if memory serves, age 25 is a marker for fewer accidents, premiums are reduced, etc., so, 25 would be a reasonable age for consideration.

i’m not one who often thinks increased restrictions and taxes are advisable.
but, i would give this some thought.
some states have added early driver restrictions that are bearing good fruit, so, maybe?

the ways of being a distracted driver are numerous.
i warn my driving children, and pedestrian children, just presume every driver is distracted!
between texting, alcohol, illegal drugs, and legal drugs, eating, and so many other distractions, the hazards are great.

fatalities at school bus stops are shocking.

Seatbelts and airbags have helped. An alcohol detecting ignition system might help. So would making cell phones not work in a running car. Soon I expect computer-driven cars will make a big difference. In a few years we will be debating where it should be legal to drive cars without computer accident prevention control.

The national 55 mph speed limit was a life saver, but we are too much in a hurry for that again.

Make starting the car contingent on a breathalyzer test. Hook the speed to an internal GPS a and force the engine to go no more than the speed limit. And make so the car shuts off if seat belts are used. (Like mowers when some one gets off the seat.)

In 20 years we will have driverless cars and I think we will see numbers plummet.

joshuabgood wrote:And make so the car shuts off if seat belts are used. (Like mowers when some one gets off the seat.)

There's a missing "not" there, not? I would recommend looking back at the seat belt ignition interlock debacle from the 1974 model year. It was an idea whose time had come. Not.

Robert wrote:In 20 years we will have driverless cars and I think we will see numbers plummet.

Should we go ahead sacrifice another 100,000-200,000 people since the numbers will be coming down soon?

Ernie wrote: Should we go ahead sacrifice another 100,000-200,000 people since the numbers will be coming down soon?

Not at all. I was not trying to minimize the issue. Just stating I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

I do not drink and try not to speed. I often drive under the 75 MPH speed limit in Michigan because it is safer. I am not sure what else I can do to affect the numbers. I am open to ideas.

Fantastic topic, Ernie. As someone who is a full time RVer I see a lot of driving habits.

The number one habit that I see as dangerous is distraction.
In the past two days I have seen 7 different drivers in opposing traffic traveling at 50+ mph and looking down, not out the window where they are driving, but down inside the car. My guess: they were reading text messages but they may also have been looking at something else.

This occurred in a state that has laws against texting or being on a phone while driving. The laws do not stop these incidents but they might reduce them.

Robert wrote:

Ernie wrote: Should we go ahead sacrifice another 100,000-200,000 people since the numbers will be coming down soon?

Not at all. I was not trying to minimize the issue. Just stating I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

I do not drink and try not to speed. I often drive under the 75 MPH speed limit in Michigan because it is safer. I am not sure what else I can do to affect the numbers. I am open to ideas.

I trust your heart!

It would take a lot of effort to make any significant difference. I at least want to go on record as being concerned about this, as I believe in the sanctity of life. And, a person never knows where a little ripple might go.

Helping people who turn to alcohol to solve their ache might be one place I could start.