Slaughter on the Highways
If there is one thing that is largely ignored in our society, it is the sheer slaughter that takes place daily on our roads and motorways/highways. It just doesn't get the same media and political attention as crime and drugs do, even though the number of road deaths is far greater than in both of these categories. When politicans want to raise their popularity they nearly always talk about the high number of deaths from drugs and the like, and what measures they are going to introduce to bring these down. You rarely hear anything about major campagins to reduce road deaths. There is no votes in road safety ! Why ? - Because it just does not get the proper attention it deserves. If you piled up the bodies from just one year of road accidents, it would be called a massacre.
If you look at the statistics and compare them with all other categories, in practically every western nation, road deaths are the single biggest killer of young people and then it is followed by other things like violent crime and drugs. The levels of the latter two are quite variable from country to country, but they are still always lower than road deaths. As an example, we will examine the statistics for Ireland, which would be reasonably average in that it lies in the middle of the best and worst of western nations.
In Ireland which has a population of about 3.5 million people, around about 400 people are killed on the roads every year. This means over the course of just one year you have a 3,500,000/400 = 1 in 8750 chance of being killed. These odds are very high. If you thought you had these chances of winning the lotto, you would be delighted. The thing is, we are all in the road death lotto every day and we are f...
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...in society. We simply should not accept things as they are. Why not aim for targets approaching zero or are you willing to say when your husband/wife or young daughter or son is killed that -
Ah well these are the risks we take for the convenience of the motorcar.
It's at that point you will be wishing that all individuals in society had not been willing to take the risks and had acted to reduce them and prevent your personel tragedy. After all, don't we all act to reduce other risks, such as house fire insurance, which is a much lower risk ? These targets can be reached and there are almost limitless minor technical tricks that can be employed to help bring about that situation. In fact maybe someone could make a start on the web site mentioned above and someone else produce the data for the booklet, (above also). The rest after that is largely politics !
Dangers on roadways is an issue that describes the discrepancy between perception and reality of road rage. The media, for some odd reason, tends to make road rage a huge controversial issue. As seen on talk shows from Oprah Winfrey to CNN, they reveal to people that road rage could happen at any time and to always be looking over your shoulder. These talk shows and news programs also put fear into our minds by explaining that most roadragers often use guns to kill or injure their victims. Glassner contradicts the media's speculations by stating that out of approximately 250,000 people killed on roadways between 1990-1997, AAA attributed that one in one thousand was an act of road rage (pg.5).
American teenagers are often criticized for being irresponsible and immature. Some in the older generation will also state that kids are taking too long to move out of the house. These views of young adults are pessimistic and demeaning to the current generation. While the adolescent stage has been extended, American kids are taking an ample amount of time to accept the responsibilities of becoming an adult.
Each year numerous lives are lost due to careless and irrational driving. The disregard for safe driving has been a predicament to Queensland for years. For many years? police have relied heavily on speed cameras, breathe testing and heavy fines as a deterrent against unlawful drivers. Over the years fatality rates have increased, so Queensland Transport has composed a series of safe driving campaigns. On many occasions the transport department informs and advises the public about the importance of responsible driving. They propagate safe driving through the various channels of the media. Their safe driving campaign is now using effective propaganda aimed directly at speeding; drink driving and tired and reckless driving
Today, worldwide reports of the alarming road carnage statistics indicate that the same problem still persists as motorists continue to engage ...
To address the statement that selling cigarettes is unethical due to the danger associated with it, one must determine what separates this manufactured good from other harmful products. It is true that tobacco is a dangerous drug and can do damage to a person; how...
One way an abused person is affected beyond the actual act of abuse is when they are forced out of their home environment and into the foster care system. When authority finds child abuse in a home, they often take the child away and place him/her into foster care. Sometimes, the child cannot be returned to the parents and he/she has to remain in foster care until someone decides to adopt them (A Childs Cry 1). In some cases, a child may not realize that they are being abused, so they love their abuser dearly and may have a false feeling of safety while near them. Then they would be taken against their will and be uncooperative to authority (A Childs Cry 1994). Sometimes the child does not ever get adopted and has to spend the rest of their lives until adulthood in foster care. This could affect someone’s personality and mak...
There is clearly no way tobacco will never be outlawed but I believe there should be tighter restrictions on age limits throughout the world, and restrictions on the materials that are used in cigarette processing. Who is just letting cigarette companies continue to poison people and cause cancer risk? Throughout my essay I will analyze the affects of cigarette use on the society of the world and the elaborate corruption that keeps cigarette companies in business.
What is as dangerous if not more dangerous than murder and suicide? A car accident is. Being in the seat of a vehicle put’s a driver’s life in jeopardy the instant they are in the seat of a vehicle. Adam Ford explains drivers licenses were issued first in the 1900s and conditions have changed substantially: More powerful cars exist, and more are on the road (Ford). With this notion, Ford explains why cars are more dangerous on the road; however, the types of cars that exist in present times are not the sole reason the road is more dangerous. John Pearson states, car accidents are the leading cause of death from ages three to thirty-five world-wide (Pearson). Mainly, drivers cause these car accidents. Cellphone usage in the US is one of the central contributors to car crashes, because the habits shaped from cellphone usage, such as texting generate danger. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 500,000 people were injured and 5,500 were killed by distracted driving in 2009 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The road has become a progressively hazardous place with distracted driving on the increase. Additionally, alcohol misuse causes increased danger while in a car. Ralph Hingson, a Sc.D., states that of all alcoholic-related crashes in 2002, 4 percent caused death, and 42 percent caused injury. Hingson further asserts, in dissimilarity of the crashes that did not involve alcohol, 0.6 percent caused deaths, and 31 percent caused injury (Hingson). Deaths and injuries increased this much cannot be taken lightly. Furthermore, age is also a factor in why car crashes have increased in the last decade. Youth drivers are the primary users of cellphones, which means that they text...
Child abuse affects millions of children every year. Child abuse is defined as “the hurting or causing harm to a child” (Stewart, 2003, p. 6). Most people do not understand why a parent would want to hurt their children. “The general belief is that parents who maltreat their children are pathological and certainly not like us” (Polonko, 2005). It is not just parents that abuse the children it is also teachers, babysitters, and daycare workers (Stewart, 2003). Lingern (2008) reported the following:
This may sound terrifying.but one way we can combat this is by having harder driving exams and test and practicals and we can made the students complete their full drivers
Every year, thousands of teenagers receive their driver’s licenses and millions are driving on America’s roads. Ensuring their safety and the safety of others is crucial. 16 to 18 year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers in any other age group. Between 5,000 and 6,000 youth will die on our roads this year and another 300,000 will be seriously injured. America has many more young people die in traffic incidents than it does in military service, and yet there has been little political or public activity done to make this problem known to the nation.
“Car accidents are the No. 1 cause of death of teens” says Cricket Fuller, he also says that “a quarter of all teen-driving crashes are attributed to distract driving”. Even though the death rate of teen drivers is going down, an average of seven deaths a day still occur (Kowalski). Debacco-Ernie had said that “any time a teen driver is out on the road after 10 p.m., the probability of them being involved in a crash increases dramatically” (Carr).
In conclusion, Child abuse, without a doubt, causes permanent damage to the life of the victim. Whether it’s physical, sexual or neglect, the after effects will haunt them, and very possibly their future family as well. Child psychiatrist, B.F. Steele stated,
In America, the society runs on what teenagers want. From Nicki Minaj to the junior section at Sears, most of what the people see, hear, or touch is aimed at the teenagers. Being an adolescent is probably the most exciting and most popular time period in a person’s life. The teens seem to have it all, but what about the parents who raise them? The parents of the teenagers never get any credit during this time period, although they have every right to. Parents and teenagers should strive for a strong, lasting relationship for these years, though most times there isn’t one. The relationship between teenagers and parents is the most vital bond in the family because this relationship should and will prepare them for the next step in life.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.