3 Ways to Reduce Road Deaths
Distracted Driving Awareness Month is every April, but we constantly need to be talking about how to keep our roads a little bit safer. The total number of deaths caused by road traffic accidents in 2020 was 38,824—which is far too many. I believe the solution to this problem is three-fold—and that everyone in industry, academia, and government need to work together to solve this together.
My interest was especially piqued when a report crossed my desk about the most dangerous state to drive in and my new home state—South Carolina—was near the top of the list.
The research conducted by personal injury lawyers We Win analyzed the number of deaths per 100,000 people and the number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2020. An index score out of 10 was given to each state in order to determine a ranking of the most dangerous states to drive in the United States. The lower the score, the more dangerous the state.
The top five states are Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, Montana, and New Mexico. Here in South Carolina, we experience 20.7 deaths for every 100,000 people along with the highest number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles at 1.97.
The bottomline is we have a responsibility to lower the number of deaths on the roads—and I believe the solution is three-fold: infrastructure, connected cars, and education. This will require construction, manufacturing, technology, academia, and government to all come together to build a safer tomorrow. Let’s take a look at each of the areas.
Risk Management, Safety, Business Continuity, Resilience Consulting
2 年Well said Peggy. Infrastructure, Technology and Education are key and require public and private partnership solutions. With young drivers getting licensed later, the requirements for licensing soften from an educational perspective. We need to argue for change. Just because someone waits until 20 to obtain a license does not make them a better driver. I would argue the opposite. Great observations on South Carolina. We recently bought our retirement home in SC and shocking the level of distraction on the roads.
Just make manual cars mandatory until we go full autonomous. You can’t shift and text. Simple.
Investor/Advisor/Mentor
2 年I think the solutions are 100% human, not technological. - Don't use your smartphone while driving - Don't drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol - Teach young drivers properly (don't avoid animals, merge at speed, be decisive, don't tailgate, etc)