The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that Indiana is on pace to have the fewest traffic deaths since 1925. 680 people have died this year on Hoosier roadways compared to 670 in 1925.
It's a remarkable stat when you consider Indiana's population was then half of what it is now and the numbers of cars on the road has to be a fraction of what it is today. Also, in 1925, the interstate system did not exist.
I think it probably has to do with better safety features in vehicles and much better emergency medical care. People who are involved in serious motor vehicle crashes often survive where 84 they may not have survived.
6 comments:
I was surprised to learn there were 711,000 cars registered back then.
Press Release
DI, I looked for that number. How many registered now?
It's in the press release, about 8 times more.
As of 2006 there were 6 million vehicles registered in the state.
Los Angeles County had 7.5 million in 2005.
LA county is 4100 square miles, about 11% the size of Indiana.
Safety features make a huge difference. Late last year I was T-boned by an SUV so hard that it flipped his vehicle over.
My 10 year old Mercedes hunkered down and shifted only a couple feet from the impact. Nothing inside the compartment touched me. I did not have a scratch or a bruise, just a muscular injury treated by a chiropractor.
In the 1920's, I could have died.
Don't forget another issue. Back in the 1930's there was little emergency response and and no paramedic and EMS programs. Today with the safer vehicles and quick response from emergency providers the chance of surviving an accident has increased dramatically along with the state of the art mergency rooms and technology.
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