![]() ![]() Right now, gun control advocates look at the existing red tape in car ownership as a model for guns. Some states have outlawed speed cameras many more severely restrict their use. Speeding, which is as much a factor in car crashes as drunkenness, is thought to be a cheater’s right, like stealing Monopoly money. ![]() ![]() Distracted driving is endemic: In Tippecanoe County, Indiana (home of Purdue University), a spike in crashes around Pokestops in the summer of 2016 appeared to cost the county between $5 million and $25 million. ![]() Efforts to rebuild streets and highways to limit speed have foundered blame for soaring pedestrian deaths rests increasingly on pedestrians themselves rather than the distracted drivers who mow them down. In short, while we’ve been relatively successful regulating vehicle manufacturers, we’ve had less success with human behavior. Fifteen percent of American drivers do not wear seat belts, compared with 3 percent in the Netherlands and 4 percent in the U.K. So why are we lagging? As David Leonhardt noted in the New York Times, 74 percent of Americans speed, compared with 45 percent of drivers in the Netherlands and 22 percent in the U.K. The situation is even worse for pedestrians: According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 5,987 people were killed by cars in 2016-the highest number since 1990 and an increase of 23 percent since 2014. The nonprofit National Safety Council estimates that in 2017, car deaths per capita rose to 12.3 per 100,000 people, from 11.1 in 2014. More recent years have seen mandates on electronic stability systems, increased penalties for distracted driving and forthcoming requirements for rear-view cameras.įor a moment in 2014, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guns and cars appeared to be killing Americans at the same rate.* But that’s no longer true. The ’80s brought an increased focus on drunk driving and mandatory seat belt use. The federal government mandated the presence of seat belts in the 1960s. The steady decline in motor vehicle deaths over the past 65 years can be attributed to a combination of improved technology and smarter regulation. ![]()
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