DisOrientated - A Weblog by Philip Sen

October 09, 2004

Why So Many Accidents?

Perhaps the thing I'm most afraid of in everyday life is one of the most common. Not terrorism, not violent crime, not air crashes. No, cars. I hold that no matter where you are in the world, it's cars that are the biggest danger.

A recent World Health Organisation report states that 600 a day die on China's roads. I'm surprised it's so little - 219,000 a year or just 0.017% of the population.

That's equivalent to about 10,000 deaths per year in the UK in percentage terms - the real figure in Britain is actually 3,500 each year, so compared in real terms to fatalities in China it's a third.

There's more interesting stats in the document. They reckon there'll be half a million deaths per year by 2020. But I don't agree with the following:

Reducing road injury is not difficult. The World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention has compiled and summarized the best evidence that suggests that road crashes and injuries can be effectively prevented through implementing simple strategies such as safety belts for adults and children, legislating and enforcing speed limits and drink driving statutes, and increasing the visibility of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

I reckon the best way to reduce deaths in Chinese cities at least is going to be to enforce common sense. Only yesterday, for example, I saw a man on a scooter drive directly in front of a car as it was turning into a road, causing the car to brake heavily. People regularly run in front of buses. Cars regularly jump traffic lights as if they're not even there. But they are there - and there for a reason, which is to control traffic and prevent accidents!

In fact it's amazing the figure is so low. I assume that people are so aware of the insanity of their fellow drivers that they are perhaps more alert than they would be in the UK - ready at every moment to brake suddenly to avoid an accident.

The only way to prevent traffic fatalities here is somehow to imbue people with common sense - it seems to me that they don't even value their own lives, let alone those of other people. The release concludes well: Road safety is no accident, and the choice lies in our hands.

Posted by Sendover at October 9, 2004 11:48 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Don't you realise that Common Sense is a VERY rare commodity in any country!!

Posted by: Mum at October 12, 2004 01:36 AM

Whenever I'm complaining about something in China, my mother always says, "But remember this dear...", and points out something about the UK. She's usually right. (Except when it's about politics, in which case, there is absolutely no comparison.)

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