Friday, December 22, 2006

Instapundit.com -

Instapundit.com -: "'Nearly half of all traffic fatalities are caused by drunken drivers, according to National Highway Transportation Safety Administration data. The NHTSA, along with help from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, tells us that fully 80 percent of all traffic crashes are caused in part by distracted drivers, mostly those talking on cell phones. So why do more drivers encounter radar guns during the holidays than breathalyzers or unsafe driving citations?' Because states and localities don't make money from saving lives. They make money from writing tickets, and it's easy to write speeding tickets."

What's more, by these numbers, 130 percent of all traffic fatalities are caused by the combination of the two. Reducing them by 77 percent would completely eliminate all traffic fatalities whatsoever.

1 comment:

Barry Dauphin said...

And another thing... I don't know how many times I have been stuck in an AM traffic jam, only to find the source of the jam being a cop having pulled someone over for a speeding ticket. This simple act during rush hour can delay people anywhere from 15-45 minutes. Stop and go traffic on an interstate because of one stupid speeding ticket! How much worker productivity is lost? I don't know but I suspect there is a greater loss to the state treasury from fewer taxes being paid than to the income generated from these tickets.