| Things to think about
Car accidents took nearly as many American lives last year alone
as the Vietnam War did throughout a decade.
In the United States, or any country that is free of war, traffic
fatalities are the largest cause of violent death.
Safe
driving can save more years of life than many medical procedures,
including some cancer and heart disease treatments.
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Importance
Traffic
fatalities are avoidable. They are also partially a byproduct
of sprawling development and the long hours we spend driving.
In the short term, however, we can reduce the number of accidents
with such devices as traffic calming measures that slow speeds
in crowded or residential neighborhoods.
Economic
New
Jersey has some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation.
This is due, in part, to the amount of driving we do and the
number of accidents that result. We pay also for medical service,
automobile repairs, and lost productive activity. If this money
went instead to education or investment in capital assets for
business growth, then we would receive returns of those investments
far into the future. Instead, we pay high financial and emotional
prices.
Environmental
There
is no obvious connection between traffic fatalities and the
environment.
Social
In
traffic fatalities, we lose family, friends, and colleagues.
Whether an accident takes the life of one or many in a community,
deaths caused by traffic accidents have serious, long-term repercussions.
Knowledge
Gaps
Young
people have more car accidents than any other age group does,
so traffic mishaps take an especially high toll when measured
in lost years of life. The indicator does not measure lost years
and thus does not reveal this important distinction. In addition,
at almost all ages, men are much more prone to car accidents
than women are. This discrepancy also does not show up in the
indicator.
Data
Source: NJ Department of Law & Public Safety and Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety
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