On Sat, 3 Sep 2005, C. E. White
Not really. When you look at the two measures that are used (baneities per vehicle-kilometre travelled, and baneities per vehicle registered) you get pretty comparable stats. Especially when you're comparing countries with very similar driving conditions (e.g. US vs. Australia).
...they have smaller cars, they have higher speed limits, they have narrower streets...
Nope. All of the countries that are better-safer than we are are rich 1st-world countries. See www.scienceservingsociety.com .
Well, sure, in the mid '70s, the US was far and away number one in both measures. That we have slipped so far is especially sad, because it didn't have to happen.
Domestic-car safety wasn't any better.
Well...no. Not really. What NHTSA did was codify what automakers were doing already, which was along SAE lines, and SAE is made up of automaker's representatives. So what wound up happening with the creation of NHTSA was the formalization of an "Automakers, do whatever you want, and every so often we'll yap at you to hurry it up" type system. Ralph Nader, often billed as a great crusader for auto safety, was nothing of the sort. Although his activities that in part resulted in the creation of NHTSA did launch his career, he also did tremendous and lasting damage to auto safety in North America by effectively setting up a legalistic, acrimonious, adversarial relationship between the regulators and the regulated parties. Gee, a lawyer setting things up to keep him and his ilk in business forever, who'd've thunk it?
Remember, too, that auto safety agencies were being set up at around the same time, but with very different setups and philosophies, in those countries that have surpbutted us in safety.
DS
