According to The Telegraph it is only slightly less dangerous to travel by road today than it was in the reign of the first Queen Elizabeth. 34% of those killed in Shakespearian road accidents seem to have died as …the result of falling from farm wagons…
If one looks up the government’s statistics about causes of death (a very boring process) one finds that the greatest killer of children is not Paedophiles, nor yet Terrorists, but road accidents.
Why don’t parents save the tens of thousands a year they spend on designer SUVs (“The Safety Of My Child Comes First!”), and spend it on private tutors instead? Could it be because the other Mums couldn’t see them ‘parking’ (one uses the term loosely) a private tutor?
As a risk-averse society I think we ought to come down hard on this sort of thing. The roads are deadly, and clearly always have been. Children are, for their own safety, not allowed out at all any more, except, paradoxically, to undertake this daily suicide-gamble with Belgian juggernauts, policemen late for teabreaks, and the competitive, status-obsessed mothers of their contemporaries.
Responsible parents, if there are any left, should take their children home at once and spend next year’s armoured-personnel-carrier money on some real education.
As a well-known television ‘personality’ would doubtless say (pause, cut to Cam4, BCU, flutter eyelashes): “If it saves one child’s life… isn’t it worth it?”
Or….they could teach them proper road safety?
Just a thought.
I am a bit busy at the moment, with things both important and unimportant, but both sorts are pressing: otherwise I would look for more evidence.
However, from Wikipedia, I offer: Road toll figures show that car collision fatalities have declined since 1980, with most countries showing a reduction of roughly 50%.
Thus I reckon it is very likely that the referenced article, and perhaps the academic study on which it is based, are either a troubling misrepresentation of the balance of evidence, or substantially poppycock.
It is worth remembering that UK fatalities etc are around one third for motorways (and high-quality dual carriageways) than for other out-of-town main roads, per vehicle mile travelled. Thus further investment in motorways is almost certain to bring reduced fatalities etc, as well as improved journey times and less driver workload.
Best regards
Presupposing as it does that they can teach them anything at all…
Mr. Sedgwick: I’m sure you’re right; this is what one gets for reading the MSM, I’m afraid.