I’m not trying to downplay HIV. I’m trying to give you the right idea about road traffic injuries.
According to World Health Organization projections, by 2020 road traffic injuries will surpass HIV in terms of disability-adjusted life years lost globally. Already the leading cause of injury-related disability, in less than ten years, they will move from the 9th leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world (1998 data) to 3rd, with an annual death rate estimated at 8.4 million. It’s not just a global, “over there” issue, either. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among those age 5-34 in theU.S.
According to World Health Organization projections, by 2020 road traffic injuries will surpass HIV in terms of disability-adjusted life years lost globally. Already the leading cause of injury-related disability, in less than ten years, they will move from the 9th leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world (1998 data) to 3rd, with an annual death rate estimated at 8.4 million. It’s not just a global, “over there” issue, either. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among those age 5-34 in the
Perhaps worse than the death toll is the injury burden: 260,000 injuries per year involve complicated fractures, spinal cord damage, or brain damage (Science Serving Society, 2004). According to authors Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez in their book Carjacked, no reliable data has been collected on how many Americans have been permanently disabled by crashes, but "the National Spinal Cord Center has estimated that approximately 79,500 people are living today with spinal cord injuries from car crashes, with about 4,200 more paralyzed each year." Likewise unmeasured is the burden of PTSD and major depression among crash survivors as well as loved ones. Crash morbidity, like HIV, often robs families of a financial provider and can drastically alter family dynamics, leading to family disintegration, interruptions in education, and financial ruin.
If only your minivan were just a paragon of lameness.
Like HIV, this is an epidemic we've seen this coming from a long way off and chosen to do nothing to stop it. In his 1965 book Unsafe At Any Speed (Read it. You’ll be fascinated. And angry), Ralph Nader says "as an environmental trauma, auto casualties have no challenger in this country. Most of the casualties are countable, visible, and common to the experience of millions of citizens...The tragedy is known. How it is interpreted is another matter and one which has remained the principal obstacle to a rational selection of safety strategies and their implementation." Nearly fifty years—half a century—later where are we?
You'd do better to picture emaciation, flies, and orphans. Hyperbole? Yes...but no. Because your minivan--and your SUV, sedan, gull-wing minivan, your truck, and even that stinkin' cute Mini-Cooper--is not a bubble of safety. The fact that we automatically equate loving your children with these things is a testament to the power of marketing. Listen, even my stone-cold heart loves those crazy swagger wagon kids, but your cool isn't the only thing your minivan kills.
If only your minivan were just a paragon of lameness.
Like HIV, this is an epidemic we've seen this coming from a long way off and chosen to do nothing to stop it. In his 1965 book Unsafe At Any Speed (Read it. You’ll be fascinated. And angry), Ralph Nader says "as an environmental trauma, auto casualties have no challenger in this country. Most of the casualties are countable, visible, and common to the experience of millions of citizens...The tragedy is known. How it is interpreted is another matter and one which has remained the principal obstacle to a rational selection of safety strategies and their implementation." Nearly fifty years—half a century—later where are we?
You'd do better to picture emaciation, flies, and orphans. Hyperbole? Yes...but no. Because your minivan--and your SUV, sedan, gull-wing minivan, your truck, and even that stinkin' cute Mini-Cooper--is not a bubble of safety. The fact that we automatically equate loving your children with these things is a testament to the power of marketing. Listen, even my stone-cold heart loves those crazy swagger wagon kids, but your cool isn't the only thing your minivan kills.
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