What should be done about about all the driving fatalities? (Portland: school, quality of life)

[jayuso]

Surprise, surprise, surprise! it's your favorite Portland poster . In living color!

Anyways I just read this report, about all of the road fatalities. The numbers keep remaining steady and this morning I heard about 2 or 3 crashes on the news. IMO the problem is out of control. What do you guys think should be implemented to help this problem?

And see look, I'm not Portland bashing. I'm a positive role model now.

Oregon road fatality numbers remain steady for 2011 - Koinlocal6.com

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by jayuso

What do you guys think should be implemented to help this problem?

You are assuming that we agree there is a problem.

[ramedud]

Anyone who drives should attend driving school. Those skills last a lifetime and save lives. Saved my skin many-a-times.

Not everyone is fit to drive. Just like not everyone can be a parent, a teacher, a soldier, etc. Some people just shouldn't be on the road, plain and simple.

[jayuso]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

You are assuming that we agree there is a problem.

Uh yeah guy, because there is

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by jayuso

Uh yeah guy, because there is

What is the problem? A state with just under four million people loses 319 to driving fatalities in a year? What is that per capita? How many driving fatalities per capita do you think Florida has? I am a little more concerned that the number of Oregon bicyclists killed by drivers more than doubled in the same time period. Even so, however, I would be on thin ice calling it a problem, because undoubtedly Florida has probably seen that rate triple.

H

[ramedud]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

What is the problem? A state with just under four million people loses 319 to driving fatalities in a year? What is that per capita? How many driving fatalities per capita do you think Florida has? I am a little more concerned that the number of Oregon bicyclists killed by drivers more than doubled in the same time period. Even so, however, I would be on thin ice calling it a problem, because undoubtedly Florida has probably seen that rate triple.

H

Trust me, if it happened to you or a family member, you wouldn't be talking like that.

One fatality is one too many. Many of those collisions were preventable, and with good driving skills and common sense it could save us a lot of lives, heartache, rubbernecking, traffic, fuel, lost work time, et cetera...

You get the idea.

[hamellr]

The Triple A estimates that the cost of traffic fatalities is about $2.74 Billion dollars a year, just for the Portland area.

Portland area's traffic crashes cost $2.74 billion a year: AAA study | OregonLive.com

"Researchers used Federal Highway Administration data placing dollar values on 11 “comprehensive cost components”: property damage; lost earnings; lost household production; medical costs; emergency services; travel delay; vocational rehabilitation; workplace costs; administrative costs; legal costs; and pain and lost quality of life.

Nationally, the average cost of a fatal crash is $6 million and $126,000 for a serious injury crash, the study said."

[SETabor]

If the stats above are correct - 319 fatalities for 4 million people that works out to about 8 per 100,000. The US average is 12.3 according to wikipedia. So while 1 is too many, if we're going to have people driving, there will be a certain number of fatalities. Since we're below the national average we must be doing something right.

[ramedud]

Originally Posted by SETabor

If the stats above are correct - 319 fatalities for 4 million people that works out to about 8 per 100,000. The US average is 12.3 according to wikipedia. So while 1 is too many, if we're going to have people driving, there will be a certain number of fatalities. Since we're below the national average we must be doing something right.

Wow, this is like saying "Yeah, that guy's face spread across the asphalt in Portland is waaaay better than that guy's leg that just flew off in Eerie, Indiana! We are doing better!"

Accepting a national statistic for traffic fatalities as the "norm" is like accepting statistics for teen suicide as the "norm." It's anything but normal. We could be doing a lot better. These aren't just people convoluted with random numbers. They're babies, kids, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents... maybe yours.

I'll say it again: One fatality is one too many. As much as I don't like cops, ever wonder why they give out so many speeding tickets? Maybe it's not because he's trying to be a jerk, but he's just sick and tired of scraping someone's kid off the road.

[hamellr]

What do you suggest? As long as there are people who drive under the influence, drive with cars that aren't well maintained, have poor eyesight, pedestrians who where dark clothing at night, and drivers who don't understand that bicycles are allowed in the road by Oregon law, we're going to have fatalities.

The only way to really reduce them is make all cars on the street weigh 500 pounds with a maximum speed limit of 30mph. The only way to eliminate it totally is to take away the car totally and we all know that is not going to happen any time soon.