Driving can be Hazardous to your Health
I live in Spain and have generally focused all my attention on driving and surviving on Spanish roads. We have lived here for ten years and have charted the experience over that period of time. When we first arrived I was absolutely horrified. Driving habits were off the chart, in so far as attitudes were concerned, however, a combination of determination on the part of the authorities to correct the savage aspect, and just plain driver education have turned things around.
Statistics that I have to hand reveal that in 2001 there were 5,517 funerals for family members who met their deaths on Spanish roads. In France the figure was 8,162, and in Italy it was 7,096. As is the norm in statistics, we would go on to consider the percentage of population. In the United States the latest figure is about 44,000 motor related deaths on the roads. I don’t care about percentages. To me, one death on the road is one far too many. When we receive our driver’s permit, no-one warns us that when we go out to buy a loaf of bread we may die.
It simply does not have to be like that. If you are a soldier and you go on patrol to find the enemy, there will be a very high probability that he may find you first, and if he does he will kill you. This is called warfare. Going out to the supermarket is not (supposed to be) a combative experience.
I live in Spain and have generally focused all my attention on driving and surviving on Spanish roads. We have lived here for ten years and have charted the experience over that period of time. When we first arrived I was absolutely horrified. Driving habits were off the chart, in so far as attitudes were concerned, however, a combination of determination on the part of the authorities to correct the savage aspect, and just plain driver education have turned things around.
Statistics that I have to hand reveal that in 2001 there were 5,517 funerals for family members who met their deaths on Spanish roads. In France the figure was 8,162, and in Italy it was 7,096. As is the norm in statistics, we would go on to consider the percentage of population. In the United States the latest figure is about 44,000 motor related deaths on the roads. I don’t care about percentages. To me, one death on the road is one far too many. When we receive our driver’s permit, no-one warns us that when we go out to buy a loaf of bread we may die.
It simply does not have to be like that. If you are a soldier and you go on patrol to find the enemy, there will be a very high probability that he may find you first, and if he does he will kill you. This is called warfare. Going out to the supermarket is not (supposed to be) a combative experience.
Driving through the various European countries brings various levels of risk, depending on the country. I suggest that you might like to read the various contributions on the Internet about driving in Italy before you go there. I have done that with the conclusion that I rule out Italy as a place to visit, or at least not to drive on their roads. One writer describes Italians as not so much drivers as killers with wheels. Regarding attitudes, expressions regularly appear such as, “don’t give a hoot for safety;” “drive like lunatics;” “pay scant regard to pedestrian crossings;” “mow down pedestrians;” “road signage is not helpful;” “overtaking as a death wish.”
Italian motorists drive much too fast, as do drivers in other parts of Europe. Speeding is probably the number one cause of so much death on the road, especially when coupled to inattention and drunkenness. I was told when I first came here to Spain that if these offences disappeared in Spain, then we would not be in Spain. However, the Spanish driver is finally getting the message and it is beginning to show on the road. In 2007 we had to attend only 3,823 funerals for this reason. It’s fair to say that France also attended 3,542 fewer funerals, there being only being 4,620. In 2001 there were 8,162 such funerals. Italy was also a country with a lower death rate. 1965 fewer people lost their lives than in 2001, with 5,131 having made space on the roads.
What is the difference that can make such a change? I am now seventy, so I’m old enough to know better. Consequently, when I’m in a bar I will order a beer without alcohol, or other soft drink. “I sometimes say that I’m driving, and once in a while the bartender will say, “Don’t blame you.” It’s amazing how just that little bit of encouragement means so much to me.
Incidentally, here’s a little bit of trivia: Most bartenders don’t drink alcohol.
I have started to hear other people say “No thanks, I’m driving.” Instead of being ridiculed we generally get support, or silence, which is the same thing.
Considering that so many people die on the roads there should be a great outcry and a major push for reform. But no, nothing much on an organised level happens. It could be that what is really going on in the road is a natural form of people culling. We have had major world wars in the past that have culled the species. The truth is that when people die they do leave space for others. There are people who scan the obituary columns for deaths when they are seeking a job or an apartment.
When people die they leave their possessions to others, sometimes their very body parts, so this is not all bad news. Sometimes the news is mixed to even the families who have been left behind. First comes the grief and shock of the loss, then that is followed by the reluctant joy. Who will get the house, who gets the car; and how to split up the savings account? These are the realities that we might want to call the plus side of premature death.
There is another more sinister side to all this carnage on the roads that receives very little reportage, and that is of the injuries. There are hidden stories here that are far worse than those who simply die and are buried. That story is done, but the injured, some injured for life, can present problems infinitely more difficult. People who are confined to wheelchairs, or their beds; who require 24-hour care; people whose lives are devoid of quality, all because of something that happened on the street.
If you are one of the people who are making an effort toward lowering the body count while driving, I think you are on the right track and that you should even re-double your efforts. It is possible to reach a point of no-one dying while driving. At least that should be the objective.
Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael
Italian motorists drive much too fast, as do drivers in other parts of Europe. Speeding is probably the number one cause of so much death on the road, especially when coupled to inattention and drunkenness. I was told when I first came here to Spain that if these offences disappeared in Spain, then we would not be in Spain. However, the Spanish driver is finally getting the message and it is beginning to show on the road. In 2007 we had to attend only 3,823 funerals for this reason. It’s fair to say that France also attended 3,542 fewer funerals, there being only being 4,620. In 2001 there were 8,162 such funerals. Italy was also a country with a lower death rate. 1965 fewer people lost their lives than in 2001, with 5,131 having made space on the roads.
What is the difference that can make such a change? I am now seventy, so I’m old enough to know better. Consequently, when I’m in a bar I will order a beer without alcohol, or other soft drink. “I sometimes say that I’m driving, and once in a while the bartender will say, “Don’t blame you.” It’s amazing how just that little bit of encouragement means so much to me.
Incidentally, here’s a little bit of trivia: Most bartenders don’t drink alcohol.
I have started to hear other people say “No thanks, I’m driving.” Instead of being ridiculed we generally get support, or silence, which is the same thing.
Considering that so many people die on the roads there should be a great outcry and a major push for reform. But no, nothing much on an organised level happens. It could be that what is really going on in the road is a natural form of people culling. We have had major world wars in the past that have culled the species. The truth is that when people die they do leave space for others. There are people who scan the obituary columns for deaths when they are seeking a job or an apartment.
When people die they leave their possessions to others, sometimes their very body parts, so this is not all bad news. Sometimes the news is mixed to even the families who have been left behind. First comes the grief and shock of the loss, then that is followed by the reluctant joy. Who will get the house, who gets the car; and how to split up the savings account? These are the realities that we might want to call the plus side of premature death.
There is another more sinister side to all this carnage on the roads that receives very little reportage, and that is of the injuries. There are hidden stories here that are far worse than those who simply die and are buried. That story is done, but the injured, some injured for life, can present problems infinitely more difficult. People who are confined to wheelchairs, or their beds; who require 24-hour care; people whose lives are devoid of quality, all because of something that happened on the street.
If you are one of the people who are making an effort toward lowering the body count while driving, I think you are on the right track and that you should even re-double your efforts. It is possible to reach a point of no-one dying while driving. At least that should be the objective.
Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael
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