Road Crashes and the Next U.S. Presidential Election

The United States contains some of the world’s most dangerous roads, accounting for about 4% of the total global road deaths and 4% of the total global population. This pattern differs from other industrial countries such as Australia (0.16% of road deaths, 0.32% of global population), Canada (0.27% of road deaths, 0.46% of global population), and Germany (0.65% of road deaths, 1.21% of global population). The shortfall in U.S. road safety is a new issue, since American roads were considered the safest in the world 50 years ago. The shortfall is also distinctive (given the country’s leadership in drug and aviation safety) and not always recognized (sometimes by ratios that frame risks as deaths per vehicle or other unusual metrics). The large American losses from road deaths cannot be blamed on any one person or group. Each crash naturally involves drivers, and driver error contributes to about 93% of events. The U.S. legal profession also finds fault with vehicle manufacturers, tire companies, road engineers, and other large corporate industries. Activist groups emphasize anomalous individual behavior and the need for better regulations and Road Crashes and the Next U.S. Presidential Election