Given the story above, this past weekend’s tragic Ocala M5 accident and various remarks sent my way since the 31:04 NY-LA Run, it’s been hard to keep a silent, straight face when it comes to road safety…then I read The Truth About Cars’ piece linked above.
I love TTAC. Jalopnik is snarky. Autoblog is newsy. But TTAC editorializes on serious topics without irony, and sometimes hits home so honestly, so clearly, that the logic of an argument can only be made clear by staring at pictures like those above, reading the story behind it, then starting at the picture once again.
As I did, after which I returned to ponder TTAC’s editorial on safety:
TTAC is pointing the way toward some terrible truths many have yet to face, but first, the short version of their story…
"A 17-year-old driving with a suspended license slammed into a guardrail…killing two of his friends and critically injuring himself and two others…"
"…the young men were headed to see a drag race on Long Island…"
"[The driver] never raced ‘because he loved his car,’ which was a recent gift from his mom."
"The…Department of Motor Vehicles records show that [the driver’s] junior license was suspended for 60 days Nov. 14 after he was convicted of two traffic violations."
"The driver was convicted in August of disobeying a traffic device…and of talking on his mobile phone while driving…in October…"
Comments to the New York Daily News story are a mix of sympathy for the drivers’ dead friends and criticism of his mother for gifting him the 425hp Dodge Charger SRT-8 he "slammed into a guardrail."
Comments to TTAC’s op-ed - which posits whether teen drivers’ access to such cars should be restricted - are generally critical of the mother, but vary on whether anything can or should be done in terms of rules/laws/legislation to prevent such tragedies.
Now consider these two stories from CNN: 1) "36 Million Drivers Would Flunk Drivers Tests" and 2) "Driving While Grooming Among Pet Peeves":
Whatever critics may say about my own behavior, I’m no hypocrite. I’m all for legislation against cell phone use while driving, and have even been ticketed for it. I haven’t forgotten my headset since, and try only to take the most essential calls whilst behind the wheel. Why? Because no matter how good any one of us thinks we are, we still have this. Alas, it appears the majority of drivers still don’t get it.
But let’s get some more context. How about this little story from the New York Times?
Consider the above for a moment. Safety technology is vastly better today than ten or twenty years ago. Police enforcement of speeding laws is more widespread than ever, and their technology (speed cameras, etc.) far more pervasive.
And yet…and yet…we still have this.
I recall seeing a poll (that I couldn’t find through a quick Google search) showing that 75%+ of Americans thought they were "good" drivers…or better - a statistical impossibility, of course.
I could go on and on citing studies about the wretched state of American driving skill, which even anecdotally must - to any American of moderate skill who’s driven in Europe - rank among the lowest of any first-world nation, but instead I want to step right up to the edge of controversy, if not political incorrectness. In light of the 31:04 Transcontinental Run and the (smaller than expected yet) vociferous criticism it inspired, I’ve waited a long time even to broach the topic of road safety.
The inability to take personal responsibility for one’s actions is among the most cowardly of weaknesses, and this is most evident in both the semantics of road safety and the techno-centric approach to improving it.
According to Wikipedia, a "car accident" is an incident in which an automobile collides with anything that causes damage to the automobile, including other automobiles, telephone poles, buildings or trees, or in which the driver loses control of the vehicle and damages it in some other way, such as driving into a ditch or rolling over. Sometimes a car accident may also refer to an automobile striking a human or animal.
The key phrase here is "…driver loses control…"
But Wikipedia defines an "accident" as a specific, identifiable, unexpected, unusual and unintended external event which occurs in a particular time and place, without apparent cause but with marked effects."
The key phrases here are "…unintended external event…" and "…without apparent cause…"
In order to realistically debate how to improve road safety - which, to those who would rather inject personal bias, emotion and/or politics into the discussion, is actually the study of how to reduce the thousands of injuries and deaths which occur every day, in machines designed, built and piloted by human beings, in countless tragedies which not only cost money and time but destroy the lives of both the victims and those who live on in their wake - there is no place for doublespeak.
If a "car accident" occurs when one or more "drivers loses control", and if an "accident" is an "…unintended external event…without apparent cause…", then - although thousands such incidents occur every day - few actual car accidents ever occur…therefore…
Read my conclusion in Part 2…within the next few days…
I’ll reserve my comments until part 2. However I will point out that Wikipedia is not infallible and also that parents are normally the first to get balmed for anything their child does
Alex, you couldn’t be more right about personal responsibility, and this extends to other areas of life. People don’t have “accidents”… they have control over what they do. I think that many people feel like they don’t have control over their lives, so they act recklessly (as if they are owed the “right” to do what they want) in order to get control back… but they DO have control. They have choices, they just don’t stop to honestly evaluate them. I only have control over myself, and so the only changes I can make are to me and my driving skills. Skip Barber, here I come.
Looking forward to Part 2.
Looking forward to part 2
I think I know where this is going, and it’s something I’ve said before privately, not online.
Most “car accidents” really aren’t accidents. Instead, they’re the result of a driver doing something he shouldn’t have done, or not doing something he should have done.
And the two major causes of “car accidents” are negligence and inexperience.
I think we need a new word to describe these “car accidents.” Maybe Alex has one.
Good point. Accidents are for cowards.
It’s a TRAFFIC COLLISION - accident implies no one is to blame, quote movie Hot Fuzz (2007).
In the UK highway code, revised ed. 2007, the word “accident” has been replaced with “collision”, “incident” or “crash”.
Is Wikipedia wrong? RTA should be RTC.
I’m off my high horse now.
I don’t think you should be able to drive until you’re 18 in the US.
You shouldn’t be able to operate a car with more than 200hp until you are 25. (25 is the age when insurance companies give you the lowest rates b/c that is when your brain has fully developed = reached maturity/consciousness about your decisions (a medical fact)). If you drink and drive you should lose your license permanently. Everyone will hate the above suggestions, until someone they know dies.
i agree, i think that accidents and auto safety in general need reevaluation in that driver fault is virtually ignored.
in the ocala, fl situation though, i find it hard to completely place blame on the driver. i mean, yes he screwed up royally, but can you really not apportion any blame on the parents for getting him that car? you don’t buy an M5 to do the speed limit. what do you expect a teenage guy to do in a ridiculously high performance car? anyone would go nuts in that. if i had one when i was 16, i wouldn’t be here right now.
insurance stats show teenage boys do risky stuff in cars, whether they’re driving a 15 year old civic or daddy’s 911. yes so maybe if that kid had been driving a civic he might have died anyway. but given these widely accepted statistics, any parent who knows these risks is a fool to get their kid a 500hp performance car. even if they had also given their son driving classes and safety ed for that car, it’s still a LOT of car to give a new driver.
kids at that age are too certain of their abilities b/c they haven’t had the chance yet to get scared. you can talk a 17-18 year old’s ear off about dangers of driving, but he’s not going to listen until he’s discovered that on his own. when you give someone a car that has the potential to fly, when you eventually screw up, you’re going to fall harder.
I whole heartedly agree on your point about lack of driving skill int he US. Its not acceptable in any way. I believe that the standards ought to be raised, for all age groups.
I have no fear of a collision due to my own driving, but my fellow Americans are atrocious.
The number 1 problem, in my opinion is many Americans believe that we have the “right to drive” when we turn 16. It is not viewed as a privilege that you don’t want to mess up and loose.
Being an 18 year old American male myself, I have to agree that drivers education is abysmal beyond belief in this country. What I learned in “drivers ed” when I was 15 was barely even the basics of driving. Yes it’s good to go over that red means stop and green means go and that you should signal to change lanes, but there is so much more to driving than that. What I though I knew about driving back when I was 16 is absolutely nothing compared to what I know now. It’s not so much rules of the road, but things like car control, what is safe in terms of how fast you can go in different conditions and what to do when something unexpected happens (like someone suddenly darts over into your lane and you slam on the brakes and your car starts sliding). All of those things come from experience, and experience alone. I have driven over 55,000 miles in the two years I have had my drivers license and have learned many things in that time.
The main thing that should change about driving in America is obtaining a license should be harder. Everyone should be required to do something like the Skip Barber New Drivers Program and pass (ideally with flying colors) before any licenses can be issued. Yes it is a radical idea, and less people would drive, but it would certainly fix many of the issues we face here in America.
I don’t disagree with you but for shit’s sake please don’t use wikipedia as a source of information. It just isn’t. It’s at best a source for bad information and at worst a source for misinformation.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/13/wikimedia_coo_convicted_felon/
and
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/
and
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/11/bush-censors-wikipedia
and
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/10/wackypedia-nazis
and
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/11/26/wikipedia-dangerous-crack
Seriously, don’t use Wikipedia as a source. It’s like saying “I know a guy who knows a guy who said…” And to quote someone much smarter than me: “the plural of anecdote is not data”.
This is not a challenge and I do not intend it to sound like a challenge, I am merely curious. Alex, what is it that is in such bad condition about America’s driver’s ed program? Being a 17 year old new driver (permit only, liscense in May) I am curious about where you think the program is lacking and where I can potentially practice to get a better feel for everything and so I can be as safe as possible (as ironic as that may be). I figured nobody better to ask than someone who traveled across the country in 31 hours
I think the main problem may be Americans sense of entitlement, not just towards the car and driving but to most everything. Being a superpower in today’s world have that effect on people, that having, driving, drinking etc. is a right not a privilege.
I agree with most that has been said above although the changes suggested are never going to happen in a country that seriously debates the individual’s right to guns. It’s car country for chrissakes.
I keep telling my 11-yr old daughter that there’s no such thing as an “accident”. It is caused by somebody not being careful or not being prepared.
I have yet to witness the skill of American drivers, but will be visiting for the first time in August, when I shall be taking to the roads. Surely you guys aren’t that bad? I see some pretty appalling driving here in London, too.
Oh, and that doesn’t mean that I’m not doing some of that appalling driving. I’m sure that sometimes I am!
Over here in the UK we have different levels for different vehicles. Motorcycles are limited initially, even if you take a test as a mature adult. http://www.acemotorcycletraining.co.uk/rulesregs.html
Car driving is a bit different:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/LearnerAndNewDrivers/LearningToDriveOrRide/DG_4022661
and
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/LearnerAndNewDrivers/PracticalTest/DG_4022483
They are saying about 45 hrs instruction, plus 20 hrs practice plus a theory test past is the starter requirement. You have to be 21 and 3 yrs experience before you can take someone else out. That’s normal for me, what are the US requirements??
I’m guessing you all think it’s quite poor, and buying a hi-po car for a recent passer is just stupid, regardless of what anyone thinks.
I feel sorry for their loss of their children but there has to be some responsibility too?
Very very sad…..
Driving is a lot less aggressive than in Britain Neil, just dont expect to see much indicating
Have a good holiday.
This is coming from an inexperienced driver (see above post) but I can still be of some use in your question Neil. There isn’t much signaling, people are clueless as to how to properly use a roundabout (I live just down the road from one), people in SC are @$$holes about merging on the highway (almost got plowed by a truck twice in the same day and had to go off the road because the truck sped up so I couldn’t get in). Overall you should be fine. I can’t imagine it being worse than the autobahn or much different than London. It is pretty much hyped up how bad American divers are. If anything, they are just distracted by other things.
depends where you’re going. if you’re going to a city, you’ll find traffic and speeding and generally frustrated drivers acting out with their cars. if not, you most likely have nothing to worry about. i live in NYC and i rarely find people who drive worse than those guys in london in their white vans.
As far as changing driving ages, I don’t think that is needed at all. I got my first car when I was 8 years old, and learned plenty in the acres of land behind my parents’ home. Other kids had dirtbikes and four-wheelers, I had a car. What my parents taught to me was that Safety is always first. By the time I was 12 I was drifting that car around at over 80 MPH. What the SCCA taught me was how to control a car on asphalt, and so the first time I went over 160 MPH, I was in control of myself and the car. I’m 28 now, and having done well in a variety of auto competitions, I can say without a doubt, that people are just too damn distracted when they drive. There are plenty who can’t drive, without distractions or not, but there are plenty who can drive alright, but they just don’t pay attention. Cellphones, iPods, and stereos, seem to me the major distractions. I don’t have an iPod, only use the radio sometimes, and rarely talk on my phone while driving even though it’s legal for me to do every one of those things. I actually enjoy driving you see. I didn’t have a car with a radio you could hear with the engine running until I was 22, so my focus has always been on driving. That I was running hot small and big-block V8s could have had something to do with it…. Maybe the kids today don’t need under powered cars, maybe they need cars with no stereos! I really learned to drive because I wanted to be faster than I was, if only the teens of America had the same focus.
Thanks for the info about the US drivers. You don’t sound that bad. I’ve driven in Malaysia, mainly around Kuala Lumpur, and over there they will not let you in (if you indicate to move into a space, they speed up as they’ve obviously left too big a gap!), once a light turns red at least 5 or 6 more cars will go through it, and a lot of them treat lanes as optional and just position themselves on the road wherever they feel like.
@Neil:
We are definatly not that bad…
@Brian:
Driving will be my focus, not the other random crap that happens in most of my friend’s cars. Trouble is it will be awful hard to convince my parents (and insurance company) that a big block is safer than a four banger… Either way, I too enjoy driving (the little that I get to do it) and look forward to having a chance to take it to the track. I wish that I was able to take a car out in my backyard and drive at (relatively) high speed for practice but in today’s suburbia, that just isn’t possible. My friend recently rolled her car five times due to a faulty bolt on her tire (the car was totaled so nothing could be proven against Tires Plus who had just changed her tires). The way I see it, when something as innocent as a bolt can cause such a crash, why do I need to add more dangerous variables into the situation? This is not to say I will never listen to a stereo in a car, that is unrealistic, rather I will not blast the stereo at full volume so my bumpers and trunk shake as many other teenagers like to do. My focus is most defiantly driving as I find the road far more entertaining than a cell phone.
Defo an interesting outlook at road safety, look forward to Part 2.
Neil, I’ve driven in the US and to be honest some of the drivers scared me but not as much as the cars (if it’s anything you don’t recognise it’s not a good thing). Some of the roads (including the interstate) had potholes which was unnerving but my issue was obeying speed limits, try doing 25 on a road wide enough to be at least a dual carriageway in the UK (I kept doing 50 before realising). If you can handle london then the US shouldn’t be a problem
Alex S, the whole problem with merging onto freeways? Over here it’s your problem to merge into traffic, you must give way to traffic already on the road. Of course it’s courtesy for them to let you out but they don’t have to. Having said that there’s no accounting for the @##hole who’s determined to be ahead of you. And you sound like you’ve got the right attitude (I didn’t even fit a stereo to most of my cars), just take care of your car and visit the track to learn about the racing line, that’ll help but then experience is the best teacher