Driving to death
With all the understandable concern about global warming lately, we tend to forget that our over-reliance on automobiles also has a more immediate impact: death, lots and lots of death.
Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration already shows that traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for people ages 3-6 and 8-34, and is the third leading cause of death for all Americans after cancer and heart disease, some of which can also be traced back to the automobile.
Today's Chronicle reports on new research showing that particulate matter, much of it from automobiles, causes far more premature death than previously thought, up to 24,000 annual deaths in California alone. In another piece, the Chron speculates that people might be driving less on Memorial Day weekend, the mother of all road trip holidays, but I still know lots of people who drove down to Lightning in the Bottle and other spots without pausing to consider the externalities.
Yet even after cutting more than $1 billion in transit funding last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned around and did the same thing this year, cuts that would cost the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency $37 million in the coming fiscal year. This isn't just stupid and short-sighted: it's deadly.
But there are countervailing forces fighting back, from a strong local bicycle movement to this fall's high-speed rail bond measure to the international car-free movement, whose biggest annual event, the International Carfree Conference, will be held in Portland next month, the first time it has been in the U.S. And the Guardian will be there (arriving by train) with live daily coverage and interviews with leading thinkers and activists. Stay tuned.
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Comments (6)
The Chron story raises another question: If those little particulates are so bad for you, what about the tiny microparticles in the ?
Posted by tim redmond | May 23, 2008 05:54 PM
Whoops, that's the particles in the Light-Brown">http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2008/03/is_the_moth_menace_overstated.html>Light-Brown Apple Moth spray?
Posted by Tim Redmond | May 23, 2008 06:00 PM
Thanks for posting this. If people knew the real price of gas, their habits would change abruptly. Truth be told, four dollars for a gallon of gas is cheap.
Posted by Willy | May 23, 2008 06:12 PM
From my computer to the ears of the governor, who just issued this press release:
GAAS:295:08
For Immediate Release: Contact: Aaron McLear
Thursday, May 29, 2008 Camille Anderson
916-445-4571
Governor Schwarzenegger Announces
Grants to Boost Traffic Safety
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the award of $66 million in traffic safety grants to 153 agencies and communities across the state, illustrating the Governor’s continued commitment to saving lives on California’s roadways. The funds will be administered by the Office of Traffic Safety through the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and will allow state, county and local agencies to combat impaired driving, encourage seat belt and child safety seat usage, enhance emergency medical service response, advance pedestrian and bicycle safety, and assist in the enforcement of traffic laws aimed at saving lives.
“These grants provide essential resources and re-enforce our commitment to saving lives and preventing injuries on California’s roadways,” said Governor Schwarzenegger.
In the coming year, the federally funded grant programs will emphasize time-tested practices with proven results while also expanding into new areas. Local and state agencies will develop and carry out grant activities through operations like sobriety checkpoints, DUI saturation patrols, red light running enforcement and combating illegal street racing.
Important behind-the-scenes programs will also take place, such as the expansion of DUI prosecutor education, intense monitoring and supervision of repeat DUI offenders, free assessments of pedestrian safety conditions in cities, and more real DUI trials being moved from courthouses into high school auditoriums across the state.
“We have come a long way in California in the last five years,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “The number of people buckling up has grown by 1.1 million and the number of injuries has dropped to the lowest level in 24 years. But each needless death or injury points to the continued need for the enforcement and education provided by these grants.”
Today’s announcement includes grants to eight regions of the state. Summaries of the awards can be found at www.ots.ca.gov.
Fast facts:
· In 2006, 4,195 people died and 277,373 people were injured in California traffic collisions.
· Persons killed in alcohol involved collisions increased slightly from 1,769 in 2005 to 1,779 in 2006.
· California’s 2007 seat belt usage rate is 94.6%, which is significantly better than the national average of 81% and up from 93.4% in 2006.
· In 2006, about half—458 of the 917 unrestrained fatalities would be alive today had they simply buckled up.
· In 2006, teen fatalities decreased 6.7% from 527 to 492 – the lowest level since 2001.
· Motorcycle fatalities continued to spiral upward; from 469 in 2005 to 506 in 2006.
· Motorcycle fatalities have increased each year since 1998, when there were 204 fatalities.
Posted by Steven T. Jones | May 29, 2008 03:16 PM
Don't forget that Democrats in the Legislature consistently support transit funding cuts statewide - they've helped ensure MUNI will have significant funding problems for years to come.
Posted by greg | September 15, 2008 01:23 AM
Very sad to hear that increasing number of deaths in America mostly traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for people ages 3-6 and 8-34.
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Katie
California DUI
Posted by katie | September 16, 2008 12:22 AM