RE: Fuel Efficient Cars (was Oil Economics)

From: Gary Miller (garymiller@starband.net)
Date: Mon Feb 10 2003 - 13:29:27 MST

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    >>It is a fact that recent studies show that 1/3 of drivers
    >>responsible for traffic accidents are under the influence
    >>of drugs other than alcohol, particularly marijuana. This
    >>mirrors the similar trend in the Netherlands.

    This is somewhat hypocritical of me to say (been there, done that)
    But if they could design a drug/alcohol tester similar to the diabetes
    testers now on the market into the steering column of a car.

    They could prevent DUI's from both drugs and alcohol. There would be
    those
    who wire around such systems but that could be made a felony.
     
    >> The paramount contributor to traffic deaths in the US is the
    prevalence
    >> of youth drivers with insufficient training, and elderly drivers who
    hold
    >> onto drivers licenses long after they are no longer physically able
    to be
    >> responsible drivers. Other countries are much more strict about these
    two
    >> groups, which cause some 80% of all accidents.

    Many states are retesting seniors after they reach a certain age but
    most only make
    them take the dring not the written part over. They should include the
    written
    also because if you don't have the mental clarity to read the book or
    answer the
    questions, you don't belong behind the wheel either.

     

    -----Original Message-----
    From: owner-extropians@extropy.org [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]
    On Behalf Of Mike Lorrey
    Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 12:23 PM
    To: extropians@extropy.org
    Subject: Re: Fuel Efficient Cars (was Oil Economics)

    --- BillK <bill@wkidston.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
    > Sun Feb 09, 2003 12:55 pm Lee Corbin wrote:
    > > By *taxing* an activity, however well intentioned, you invariably
    > > weaken and damage an economy.
    >
    > Well, yes, all taxes are bad. Shall we have a vote on that?? ;-) But
    > sometimes no taxes are worse.
    >
    > The USA has 42,000 (and rising) traffic deaths per year. That is quite

    > a bit of damage to the economy, and to all the families involved.
    > This continuing increase in death goes along in line with the
    > increased usage of large cars like SUVs. Why????????
    > The large size of the cars is *not* stopping the death toll on
    > American roads.

    Actually, since the US road death toll has been DROPPING as a percentage
    for a number of years, congruent with a rise in the use of SUV's, your
    claims aren't so clear. I might also point out that the US death toll on
    the roads used to be well over 50,000, but dropped significantly in
    response to a society-wide campaign against drunk driving.

    It is a fact that recent studies show that 1/3 of drivers responsible
    for traffic accidents are under the influence of drugs other than
    alcohol, particularly marijuana. This mirrors the similar trend in the
    Netherlands.

    >
    > It is very cynical to just shrug and say "Well, people are free to
    > kill themselves if they want to." Over half of these deaths are just
    > bystanders who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. People who
    > cause accidents don't just kill themselves.
    >
    > To quote Leonard Evans again:
    > 'U.S. traffic policy since the 1970s has been dominated by the
    > delusion that safety can be achieved by changing vehicles to increase
    > survivability in crashes.
    > As measured by traffic deaths per million registered vehicles, the
    > U.S. was the safest nation in the world in the early 1970s. Today it
    > is in 13th place. Better-performing countries have not done anything
    > that is either extraordinary or draconian -- they have simply not
    > fallen into the obsessive focus on marginal factors such as tires,
    > vehicle defects and airbags that dominate U.S. safety policy.'

    The paramount contributor to traffic deaths in the US is the prevalence
    of youth drivers with insufficient training, and elderly drivers who
    hold onto drivers licenses long after they are no longer physically able
    to be responsible drivers. Other countries are much more strict about
    these two groups, which cause some 80% of all accidents.

    In the US, despite state claims that driving is a 'priviledge' conferred
    by the state, most citizens see driving as a right that should not be
    confiscated under any but the most severe circumstances. There is the
    popular notion that the UN Declaration of Human Rights declares a 'right
    to drive'.

    ANY nation which is more free than another is going to have more of its
    citizens being injured and killed from their own stupidity and
    irresponsibility than those who live in the less free nation and are
    coddle and protected by the state from themselves.

    >
    >
    > By being dependent on excessive oil consumption, the USA is handing
    > over billions of dollars to the oil-producing countries and generating

    > huge amounts of wealth in those countries.

    Irrelevant. Fuel economy has no impact on vehicle safety, nor does the
    degree to which gas consumers enrich third world thugs.

    I might point out that it is europe which consumes far more middle east
    oil than the US does, so if anybody is enriching terrorists and tyrants,
    europe is more to blame, which explains the current policies of France
    and Germany.

    =====
    Mike Lorrey
    "Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
                                                         - Gen. John Stark
    "Pacifists are Objectively Pro-Fascist." - George Orwell "Treason doth
    never Prosper. What is the Reason? For if it Prosper, none Dare call it
    Treason..." - Ovid

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