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from the 'hit-the-road'-but-don't-take-it-literally dept.
ScienceNews reports on a report from the CDC (informative graph):
U.S. drivers love to hit the road. The problem is doing so safely.
In 2013, 32,894 people in the United States died in motor vehicle crashes. Although down since 2000, the overall death rate - 10.3 per 100,000 people - tops 19 other high-income countries, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported July 8. Belgium is a distant second with 6.5 deaths per 100,000. Researchers reviewed World Health Organization and other data on vehicle crash deaths, seat belt use and alcohol-impaired driving in 2000 and 2013.
Canada had the highest percentage of fatal crashes caused by drunk drivers: 33.6 percent. New Zealand and the United States tied for second at 31 percent. But Canada and 16 other countries outperformed the United States on seat belt use - even though, in 2013, 87 percent of people in the United States reported wearing safety belts while riding in the front seat.
Spain saw the biggest drop - 75 percent - in its crash death rate. That country improved nearly all aspects of road safety, including decreasing alcohol-impaired driving and increasing seat belt use, the researchers say.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 24 2016, @02:25PM
"in the 1970s when vehicles simply weren't capable of handling sudden changes correctly"
WTF?
Lemme guess. You've been drinking some Kool-Aid, without checking where it came from. And, to reinforce the Kool-Aid, you've veiwed some tired old, worn out cars from the '70's which haven't seen proper maintenance since about 1990
First, you need to be aware that virtually everyone back then learned to drive with rear-wheel drive. Most people still had bias tires. Brakes weren't ABS. But, overall, the suspension was reliable. You learned to drive with the suspension you had, you learned to use the brakes intelligently, you understood the capabilities of your tires, or you smashed into something. And - things really haven't changed much today. There are still millions of people, young and old alike, who don't understand today's "safer" cars any better than you understand vintage cars.
Most accidents are, and always have been, due to human error.
The rest of your post is reasonable though. In fact, they had a term for what you describe, many decades ago - the 85th percentile.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/93CE5655-F442-4D8F-B67C-11AA8B2F531D/0/Speed_Limits_Info.pdf [wa.gov]