U.S. traffic deaths rise by 9% in first half of 2012

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Automotive News reports U.S. traffic fatalities have increased by nine percent during the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2011. A total of 16,290 people have died in road accidents between January and June, and while the figures have yet to be verified, they may represent the most deaths during the first six months of a year since 2009.

The data comes courtesy of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has not ventured a hypothesis on the factors behind the increase. Automotive News indicates other safety groups believe the jump could be attributable to culprits as wide ranging as the weather, the economy and fuel prices. A spike in the popularity of synthetic drugs and texting while driving could also be to blame.

It could be more than a year before NHTSA releases vetted figures, complete with the causes behind them.

www.autoblog.com/2012/10/03/u-s-traffic-deaths-rise-by-9-in-first-half-of-2012/

I blame the rise on poor driving, maintenance, and distraction. People can’t ignore maintenance. I have seen so many vehicles with completely balled tires. Seriously, it is a death trap.
 
I blame the increase in texting while driving, surfing the internet while driving, and even people’s mindless reliance on GPS, so that even though they are the one behind the wheel. they have no idea where they are actually going.

Maintenance is definately the second runner up. Partly because I think people are just not as careful with things as they used to be (we are a throw away society) but also because people are likely putting off can maintenance as a way to save money.
 
Interesting. I thought too that with the poor economy and high gas prices fewer people where on the road. If that is the case, it would make me think the opposite would happen being fewer accidents.

I’m looking forward to the driverless, automatic cars. I guess we are not all that far from them being sold. Google is having success with creating the software. Early reports have it that the cars are successful at avoiding collisions.

“Google’s Smart Cars Drive Employees to Work”

blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/08/11/googles-smart-cars-drive-employees-to-work/

From the article:
This week we’re one step closer to a total revolution in transportation: the prototypes of Google’s self-driving car have traversed 300,000 miles without a single accident (the few exceptions were due to human meddling). Lucky Google employees now use the computer-controlled cars on their daily commute, and as soon as the engineers fine tune the vehicles’ perfomance in rockier terrain, one hopes the public will get a look in. TechCrunch reports:…
Click to expand...
&

“Driverless Cars And the Transportation Revolution”

blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/09/29/how-driverless-cars-will-totally-transform-modern-transportation/
 
Roselle said:
Interesting. I thought too that with the poor economy and high gas prices fewer people where on the road. If that is the case, it would make me think the opposite would happen being fewer accidents.

I’m looking forward to the driverless, automatic cars. I guess we are not all that far from them being sold. Google is having success with creating the software. Early reports have it that the cars are successful at avoiding collisions.

“Google’s Smart Cars Drive Employees to Work”

blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/08/11/googles-smart-cars-drive-employees-to-work/

From the article:

&

“Driverless Cars And the Transportation Revolution”

blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/09/29/how-driverless-cars-will-totally-transform-modern-transportation/
Click to expand...
NO THANKS!

I don’t need the government or Google telling me how to drive. :dts:
 
There is a theory that traffic fatalities track closely with the number of miles driven, regardless of other factors. I wonder how true it is.

In my state, it is illegal to text while driving. It seems to have little to no effect. I see it every work day. Put that together with the drivers listening to music with earbuds in so they don’t hear horns, sirens, or any other warnings, cell phones, bad driving habits, flimsier cars to increase mileage, and it’s no wonder bad things happen in higher numbers.
 
I have noticed a lot of cars with only one or no taillights working. Also in 50 years of driving I have never seen a policeman pull someone over for tailgaiting or failure to signal. For that matter I wonder how it is possible to graduate from the police acadamy without knowing how to operate a turn signal.

About 20 years ago I changed my route from work to home because of the fast food restaurants developed driveup windows and too many people were pulling out without control of their cars, And now we have cell phones and texting. I have been in two accidents in my life and both times my car was destroyed and both accidents were caused by the other driver on a cell phone. Not long ago I was following a car which was all over the road because the driver was reading a newspaper while talking on a cell phone. And it was a police car.
 
Having lived and worked in the Middle East, I prefer driving over there. It sounds crazy, but accidents that result in death are rare. Most Americans are petrified driving over there.

I always drive defensively and I think everyone should do the same.
 
Roselle said:
Interesting. I thought too that with the poor economy and high gas prices fewer people where on the road. If that is the case, it would make me think the opposite would happen being fewer accidents.

I’m looking forward to the driverless, automatic cars. I guess we are not all that far from them being sold. Google is having success with creating the software. Early reports have it that the cars are successful at avoiding collisions.

“Google’s Smart Cars Drive Employees to Work”

blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/08/11/googles-smart-cars-drive-employees-to-work/

From the article:

&

“Driverless Cars And the Transportation Revolution”

blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/09/29/how-driverless-cars-will-totally-transform-modern-transportation/
Click to expand...
As someone who does not drive, this would be great for me (self driving cars).

When I see/hear reports of car accidents and deaths resulting…my guess is that at least 70% of the time I hear that the driver was thrown from the car** or was not wearing a seat belt. **Buckling up DOES save lives.

Nebraska passed a law banning texting while driving…but I am pretty sure it still happens.
 
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