Originally Posted by The Human Car
Good point but we also license pilots to keep flying relatively safe as flying would be very dangerous if everyone was allowed to fly and do whatever they thought best.
So is the inherent problem of all the carnage on the road with just the act of driving or is the problem with the licensing? The balls back in your court.
Kind of backwards. There is enough danger in just using a 3000 pound vehicle with 10s to 100s of HP of power that the state (every state) requires the user to demonstrate reasonable capability to control the vehicle and to carry insurance... that to me says there is inherent danger in driving... period.
Now with a strict set of rules in place, driving should be fairly safe... as long as the rules are followed. Now considering the number of motorists and the distances traveled... the general public gets it right most of the time. However... we do have an inordinate number of deaths associated with driving that somehow just get swept under the rug as "part of the equation." Under any other circumstances such carnage would be fodder for some type of protest and political campaign... yet it is "just part of the equation."
Does it seem odd that we accept that carnage, yet whine about other instances of death so loudly... heck yeah.
Could the numbers of dead and maimed be reduced... heck yeah... but that means that every driving individual has to do a better job... and that is where the problem lies... most drivers are very willing to say... ah, the next guy can do it. And our legislators are not willing to pony up the funds nor change the requirements to make licensing stricter. "Everyone drives."
Look at the use of turn signals on the freeway... why doesn't everyone use them? Why doesn't everyone follow with a 2+second safe distance? Why don't drivers stop before turning right on red?
Little things can save lives... but that is not how driving is "sold" to the American public... it is sold as sexy and exciting... and people buy into that. In reality, it is inherently dangerous... which is why every driver has to have a license and insurance. If it were a safe activity, such as cycling... no insurance would be required.
EDIT: removed statement about road dead vrs war dead.