The SJ-R has a story on how traffic deaths are down again in Illinois. That’s good news to be sure. But what surprised me was that 2006 saw the lowest number of traffic deaths in over 80 years.
There were 1,267 deaths on Illinois roads last year [2006]. That's down nearly 100 deaths from 2005 and the lowest total since 1,065 people died in 1924.1924? There were over a thousand traffics deaths in Illinois in 1924? Considering the speeds of the vehicles of that era (or lack thereof) and the much smaller population, that’s a rather remarkable number. Driving was REALLY dangerous back then. I suppose it was attributable to lack of seatbelts, poor roads, limited traffic control devices and lax traffic laws in general. You know, all that fascist, government-trying-to-control-your-life stuff.
1 comment:
===I suppose it was attributable to lack of seatbelts, poor roads, limited traffic control devices and lax traffic laws in general===
That and the fact that people were new to driving and medical care and the cars themselves pretty much sucked. Parents didn't hand down warnings from generation to generation. There was no real drivers ed in schools. People just basically winged it.
The fatalities in the early days were huge.
It's the same combination that makes driving in developing counties today so... interesting.
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