Car Crashes in the US: Who's Responsible, Who Bears the Costs, and How We Talk About It (with Data!)

The United States has a road safety problem. Americans die from traffic violence at a far higher rate than people who live in similarly developed countries like the UK, Japan, and Australia.

This video reviews the state of traffic safety in the US, looking at how people die on our transportation system, how trends have changed over time, and how much work is left to be done. While motor vehicles have become heavier and more powerful, auto manufacturers have also dramatically improved features (like airbags and crumple zones) that have led to better overall crash survivability for car drivers and passengers.

At the same time, safety for people walking, biking, and rolling has gotten worse, with few engineering improvements to protect vulnerable road users.

We'll spend lots of time with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, looking at how all the data is coded and what it can tell us. And we'll talk about prospects for future transportation safety improvements.

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[lightdark]

I hate when I'm walking and I lose control and run into a car. 🤣

[TheRealE.B.]

*"Oh, no, bridge collapses in the news have me anxious about whether the large bridge I drive across every day to get to work is dangerous."*
_"You don't need to wonder. People routinely die on that bridge in multi-vehicle accidents that don't even make the news."_

[GojiMet]

Reminds me of a sad accident in Astoria, Queens almost a year ago. A delivery worker was killed when a driver crashed her Mercedes-Benz into an outdoor restaurant. The whole thing was caught on camera and the car had had previous peeding violations in school zones.

The driver insisted that she had been hit from a car behind, but that wasn't true. Then the police said she had had a medical episode, but that wasn't true either. In fact, her husband had said she had been perfectly fine. Finally, the DA declined to prosecute her for criminal charges, despite the evidence. Streetsblog tried to get the video footage but that was declined.

So it's not just about making streets calmer, it's also about getting the law and the police to care about them.

[knarf_on_a_bike]

Got hit from behind in February. On my bike. By a large SUV. On a stroad. At an intersection. I was where I should be. Driver lied and told cops I swerved into his path. Cops never asked my side of the story, possibly because I was in the ambulance. Luckily all x rays were negative. "Only" $600 damage to my bike. Out of my pocket. Plus two weeks of pain. I'm a rather bitter man right now. . .

[hibutmars]

as a survivor of a pretty bad car accident at the ripe age of 19, I appreciate you making this video... I was just driving home and a dui hit me going like 80mph in heavy traffic... my first car was totaled, my elderly sdad was injured, and I was left with permanent brain damage. I hate how I'm forced to drive to do anything in Cali.. for a while I was traumatised... I still love the car, but I wish we had more options in terms of transportation within civilisation... i think I already mentioned in the comments before, but my wifey insists we move to UK (her home country), where, although car centric, one isn't tied to driving everywhere... and city driving is 40 mph maximum... and tbh, I'm going to permanently move from this hell of California. Much love!

[pablogaeta]

Here's a topic I would like someone to discuss: Most states recognize that driving creates a risk to the public. To accommodate that risk, drivers are, in most states, required to have liability insurance, to protect the public from the harm that a driver can cause.

BUT, most states insurance requirements come NOWHERE NEAR covering the actual risk of harm a driver creates. For example, in NJ, a driver is required to have $15, 000 per claimant and $30, 000 per incident. Any driver can cause many times that amount of damage at any moment.

BUT, we can't raise the minimum insurance requirements to actually protect the public from crashes, because the premiums would be prohibitive. And, because our society and economy demands that people drive, we can't exclude from the driving population everyone who can't afford these premiums.

So, what happens is that either a. the victims bear the cost of people being under insured and/or the taxpayers wind up bearing this cost as people wind up on disability, medicaid, etc.

this is just another cost of our car dependency which is generally not accounted for. the victims tend to be fairly invisible to our society.

[janmelantu]

“Pedestrian loss of control” sounds like slipping on ice. Maybe we should be clearing the snow & ice from sidewalks and not just roads

[reese]

Thanks for the video. Almost got hit by a car when walking to school yesterday. I was in a crosswalk and my signal gave me the right of way. It made me reflect on how quickly a car can take someone's life. As a pedestrian you really have to assume you are invisible because if you don't you might get run over.

edit: even if you do pretend you are invisible and are extra careful you are still in danger.

[rudinah]

Amazed you kept calm during this video. I was fuming at every passing minute, everything about this data makes me angry. Automobile culture is truly such a scourge on this world

[DerrickJolicoeur]

Despite my efforts bicycling to work, deep down I know it's a liability for my own safety and it scares me.

We really do need policy to prevent these things.

[AdamShingleton]

I really respect your consistent use of the term 'traffic violence'.

[xxrockraiderxx]

I personally have a belief that heavy car use creates a lack of empathy for other people as you don't see them as people but instead other boxes on the road.

Statistics like this almost prove that though. Drivers going at some 140mph and the reason for the crash is "tyre blow out" because surely it couldn't have been the person making a poor decision and not caring about its impact upon other people. The amount of excuses given for what is basically murder or manslaughter is insane. Heck there was even a reason for the driver being distracted called "Personal Dispute" meaning that the driver didn't like someone and got "distracted" and rammed their car into either another car or a pedestrian or cyclist. Absolutely mental.

I like being on transit cos I get to see other people and see them interact. I get a small glimpse into their lives and get to see that they are just as human as me. I don't get that in a car cos I can barely even see people's outlines through the glass, let alone their faces. I think that sort of thinking needs to be built in people, to show that others have lives just as interesting as yours and that you should care for people. But that's just my two cents on the matter.

[tachyon]

Translating the "per year" death rate to about 100 deaths per day was, IMO, a much better way of presenting the ubiquitous lethality of car crashes that I hadn't thought of before. Good video

[ujai]

"if we had 100 people get killed in public transit every day, we would never hear the end of it."

I really hope this video takes off. It is too important not to.
I have shared it with everyone I can, and I hope you do, too.

[justingerald]

I've been saying this since last week (from here in NYC): if you get in your car, you're always in more danger than being on the subway.

[realrobertdenby]

I live in LA and the other day a 77 year old man was killed as he rode in a charity bike event in Griffith Park where the posted speed limit is 25 mph. I haven't heard how fast the drinking driver was going that killed him, but it was fast, and witnesses said the old man "never had a chance". The city's response was basically "yeah, we know Griffith park is dangerous (because people use it as a shortcut when I-5 is backed up) and it is on our list of things to fix". Literally, you could fix this problem by placing a few New Jersey barriers and blocking the through traffic in the park. It's frustrating that people keep dying in my city when the solutions are so obvious. I love your idea about speed governors. There is no compelling reason at all that a private and very fallible citizen should be allowed to drive at more than, say, 70 mph.

[athen-p]

Perfect timing. Just yesterday I was lamenting WMATA's delayed re-introduction of the 7000 series trains, citing the redistribution of rail riders who won't tolerate 25 minute headways to less safe modalities as outweighing the benefits of their abundance of caution.

[andrewlindstrom]

If you want more bleak videos, I just finished reading "The Color of Law". I'm assuming you've already read it, but I would be interested to know which US Urban Freeways displaced the highest number of disadvantaged people upon construction (and subsequent expansions)

[lj]

Here in Vancouver its very common in the downtown core for a speeder in a luxury car to jump the curb on to the sidewalk and kill a pedestrian. Its happened multiple times at one intersection, the latest one killing a child who was being carried by her father when they were both hit. The entire place needs to be made in to a pedestrian-only zone and drivers can be told to sit on the middle finger and twist if they're mad about it. Take the train.

[conanhoye]

CDC Code 10: "Looked but did not see" gives me heart palpitations. I ride a bike, and have been told "Sorry, I didn't see you" after a near death experience.