Americans are in total collective denial about how lethal our car dependency is. We have to stop normalizing the suffering caused by cars, Erin Sagen writes.
— to lower fatalities and accidents by simply driving better seems like an effort in futility. “It’s usually not reckless driving that causes accidents,” Davis says, “but everyday driving that we all do.”
It’s true that, with the exception of the past few years, cars generally have become safer for drivers and passengers since the 1970s. But our rate of violence is still exceptionally high: In Canada, 5.34 people per 100,000 die each year in road traffic; in Japan, it’s 3.6. In the United States, we’re at 12.6.
is because they are more likely to have to walk to get places, which is riskier than driving, and live in neighborhoods that are more likely to lack safety features like crosswalks even as high-speed freeways with dangerous crossing conditions often tear through them. Children, meanwhile, are inherently more vulnerable because of their smaller size. Being less visible on roadways or sidewalks increases their risks of being hit — even in their own driveways.
Most Americans alive today have known a family member or friend who’s at least been involved in a fender bender, a cheeky way of saying minor collision. The same month my dad was flipped over in his SUV and cut out of his seatbelt by first responders, a coworker was commuting home when a driver T-boned her bus in the middle of a major intersection. She sustained back and shoulder injuries, not unlike my dad; nearly two years later, like my dad, she still has flare-ups that limit her mobility.
Envisioning an alternative to this mess might be impossible for many of us, but we have to. However complicated the issue is, the logic is simple: We need to open our eyes and see that we’re at the end of the road.Erin Sagen is a freelance journalist based in Seattle who covers parenting, health, and culture. Her work has appeared at the Washington Post, Shondaland,
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