By Angie Schmitt, Streets Blog
\nHow did more than 30,000 annual motor vehicle deaths become something that most Americans accept as normal? A new paper by Boston University professor Itai Vardi tries to answer that question.
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\nHis work is in a similar vein to University of Virginia professor Peter Norton, whose book Fighting Traffic recounts how the forces of \u201cmotordom\u201d reshaped American streets by changing how people thought about cars in the city. Like Norton, Vardi has identified key conceptual frameworks that eventually led people to adopt the \u201cmatter-of-fact\u201d tone we use to discuss today\u2019s staggering rate of traffic deaths.
\nVardi\u2019s research encompasses historical accounts from media outlets, auto and insurance industry publications, activist groups, and, eventually, federal safety agencies. Here are three big factors that, according to Vardi, shaped the modern American view of traffic violence.
\n1. Thinking of traffic deaths in terms of fatalities per mile driven
\n[B’ Spokes: If it interesting that MDOT chooses to advertise Maryland’s fatality rate per miles driven which is near average but not our fatality rate per capita, which is rather high. But as the article points out it does seem the main point is to give a smaller number so lots of deaths does not seem so bad.]
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\n2. \u201cSaving Lives\u201d
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\nVardi calls \u201csaving lives\u201d \u2014 which is actually part of NHTSA\u2019s motto \u2014 \u201ca rhetorical device to meet institutional goals.\u201d
\nForecasting future deaths, Vardi writes, also sidesteps the tricky question of what is an acceptable number of deaths.
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\n3. Seatbelts and Drunk Driving
\nFinally, once highway safety was placed in the hands of \u201cdispassionate\u201d federal agencies, they framed the problem as one of individual mistakes or mechanical failures, rather than systemic flaws. This paradigm was, ironically, advanced by the Ralph Nader-led reforms of the 1960s aimed at car manufacturers, Vardi says.
\nFor example, the top chart, published in 1933 by the Travelers Insurance Company, omits structural contributions to the high rate of traffic deaths \u2014 such as street design and poor non-automotive travel options.
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\nhttps:\/\/usa.streetsblog.org\/2015\/09\/14\/how-americas-staggering-traffic-death-rate-became-matter-of-fact\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Angie Schmitt, Streets Blog How did more than 30,000 annual motor vehicle deaths become something that most Americans accept as normal? A new paper by Boston University professor Itai Vardi tries to answer that question. … His work is in a similar vein to University of Virginia professor Peter Norton, whose book Fighting Traffic … <\/p>\n