Quote:
Originally Posted by oceangaia
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Yes, but as someone who has been involved in this issue, that has a lot to do with safer cars with devices such as air bags and reduced drunk driving due to more rigorous enforcement. Cars are simply much safer than they were twenty years ago. The drivers? Not so much. The fatality rate in vehicle crashes has declined by 30% from 1992 to 2010. That tells me, based on your table, accidents have gone up while fatalities have gone down.
What's more, your numbers don't take into account that the number of vehicle miles driven in the United States have dropped since the peak year of 2007. For example, in 2012, total vehicle miles driven was down roughly 2.5% from 2007, which explains a good deal as well. Also, interestingly, auto crashes go down markedly when gasoline prices go up. 1974, 1982, 1991, and 2008 are excellent examples of that.
But all those arguments, fascinating as they are, are kind of irrelevant. Because the rising role of texting while driving in causing accidents is well-documented. The only people who would argue with that are the ones who would want to justify doing so.
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