Research on Fatal Intersection Crashes and Presidential Political Solutions


Research on Fatal Intersection Crashes and Presidential Political Solutions

December, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Roger Lanctot, a safety analyst, has written:“Automotive safety gadfly, Lou Lombardo, a former NHTSA analyst, notes that the total number of highway fatalities in the U.S. to date is 3,685,564 – three times the number of U.S. fatalities in all wars since 1776. As a result of these staggering figures, the historical and daily death toll, there is a cottage industry around mitigation strategies.”  Seehttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fun-facts-fatalities-big-data-roger-c-lanctot

Having done some work in this area, I am making it available to our community for their potential additional contributions.

First, note Figure 11 in the attached Spatial Analysis paper in which we were surprised to find just 3 intersections in the U.S. that had at least one fatal crash in each of the four years 2001-2004.  We were trying to define “dangerous intersections”.  Defining the problem is important to developing solutions.

Second, deep data research is also important in defining the problems and developing solutions.  In a NHTSA report, published in 2007, we examined intersection fatal crash data from FARS to better understand both problems and potential solutions for fatal intersection crashes.  Seehttp://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810682.pdf

This week the Congress passed legislation that provides some money and some policies for safety.  Hopefully, some of the money  and policies will advance safety in America.  More is needed.
Political Solutions
Surprisingly, this week at the Republican Presidential debate on CNN, an important question resulted in an interesting response by Mr. Trump and the audience on the importance of focusing resources on huge clear and present dangers here in the U.S.A. today.

“Mr. Trump, are Americans safer with dictators running the world in the Middle East?

TRUMP: In my opinion, we’ve spent $4 trillion trying to topple various people that frankly, if they were there and if we could’ve spent that $4 trillion in the United States to fix our roads, our bridges, and all of the other problems; our airports and all of the other problems we’ve had, we would’ve been a lot better off. I can tell you that right now.

We have done a tremendous disservice, not only to Middle East, we’ve done a tremendous disservice to humanity. The people that have been killed, the people that have wiped away, and for what? It’s not like we had victory.

It’s a mess. The Middle East is totally destabilized. A total and complete mess. I wish we had the $4 trillion or $5 trillion. I wish it were spent right here in the United States, on our schools, hospitals, roads, airports, and everything else that are all falling apart.

(APPLAUSE)”  See

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/16/us/politics/transcript-main-republican-presidential-debate.html

Now imagine the Democratic presidential candidates raising the major violence issue of crash deaths and serious injuries.  Candidate Clinton was willing to raise the gun violence issue.  Now let the candidates debate the need for national action on crash violence.  Activists are rightly pushing “End Gun Violence”. It is not just guns that kill people.  Vehicles kill people too. Now activists need to push for a Vision Zero Goal for crash deaths and serious injuries in new vehicles in or by new vehicles in a decade.  End the 100 crash deaths, 400 serious crash injuries, and $2 billion in crash losses occurring in the U.S.A. today – every day.  Seehttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/clock.php

Lou

 

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