Roger Halstead wrote:

OTOH I've never been able to understand how society can ignore nearly
50,000 deaths a year on the highway.

Probably because, "Highway crashes claimed a total of 42,815 lives in
2002, up from 42,196 in 2001."

http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/health...rashdeaths.htm

When they climb another 17% or so, then we "can ignore nearly 50,000
deaths a year on the highway."

Considering the amount of driving we do and the ridiculous road design
and maintenance standards coupled with politically correct but
irrational licensing entitlements in the US, the only surprise is that
the total is not closer to 100,000 than 50,000.

However, using the roads in either of our hemispheric neighbors quickly
demonstrates that it could be worse.


Jack