Vehicular violence in the United States

Vehicular violence in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths annually.[1] More than one hundred people are killed every day from motor vehicle crashes in the United States. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the workplace in the United States accounting for 35 percent of all workplace fatalities.[2] There are about three million nonfatal vehicle injuries annually[3] (about one injury per hundred people). Road transport is the most dangerous situation people deal with on a daily basis; but these casualty figures attract less media attention than other, less frequent vehicle-ramming attacks, car bombs, and drive-by shootings.[4]

damage inflicted by a vehicle bomb in Oklahoma City

Speed

Insurance statistics show that high-speed cars with powerful engines, high acceleration and high top speeds are more frequently involved in crashes than cars with lower speed capacities. The speed of motor vehicles is at the core of the road injury problem. Speed influences both crash risk and crash consequences. Speed exceeding posted limits or inappropriate for existing conditions is a major cause of around one in three fatal and serious crashes. Greater speed decreases time for actions to prevent a collision and increases the severity of collision consequences. The United States increase of Interstate highway speed limits from 55 mi (89 km) per hour to 65 mi (105 km) per hour in 1987 caused a 19 to 34 percent increase in fatalities.[5]

The vulnerability of the human body is an important design parameter for traffic speed. Pedestrians incur a risk of about 80 percent of being killed at a collision speed of 50 km (31 mi) per hour, as opposed to a 10 percent risk at a speed of 30 km (19 mi) per hour. At low speeds, drivers have more time to react to unexpected events and to avoid collisions. At speeds of less than 30 km (19 mi) per hour, pedestrians and cyclists can mix with motor vehicles in relative safety. At speeds of over 30 km (19 mi) per hour, motorists, pedestrians and cyclists increasingly make mistakes, the consequences of which are often fatal. Vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists are at greater risk than vehicle occupants and usually bear the greatest burden of injury. Of particular concern is the mix between the slow-moving and vulnerable non-motorized road users and fast-moving, motorized vehicles. While there may be fewer cyclist and pedestrian casualties, these road users bear higher fatality rates.[6]

The United States road traffic fatality rate was 15.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2000, in comparison with 11 per 100,000 in the European Union and 6.7 in Sweden where vehicle speed is restricted to 30 km (19 mi) per hour where pedestrians cannot be physically separated from cars. Traffic laws and their enforcement – or lack of enforcement – affect behavior in important ways. Focus on mobility of vehicle users may jeopardize safety of vulnerable road users where speed limits and enforcement are unpopular. Non-motor vehicle users bear a disproportionate share of road injury and risk. Children are especially vulnerable, as their physical and cognitive skills are not fully developed and their smaller stature makes it hard for them to see and to be seen. Children from poorer families and ethnic minority groups have higher rates of unintentional injury than children from more prosperous families. Poorer people comprise the majority of casualties.[7]

Vehicle ramming attacks

Recent vehicle ramming attacks in the United States include the 2006 UNC SUV attack, the Ohio State University attack, and the 2017 New York City truck attack and Charlottesville car attack. Pedestrians killed by motor vehicles in the United States numbered 5,977 in 2017, while an estimated 137,000 required emergency room treatment for nonfatal injury inflicted with a vehicle.[8] Vehicle ramming attacks targeting a single individual may be investigated as traffic accidents or manslaughter rather than murder, with reduced penalties and less media coverage. Drivers who hit and run from an attack may avoid identification and apprehension. Penalties for apprehended drivers vary from one state to another, perhaps only temporary suspension of driving license when the offense is considered a misdemeanor rather than a felony.[9]

Vehicle bombs

Motor vehicles offer convenient transport and concealment for large quantities of explosives with delayed or remote activation devices. The vehicle structure may provide destructive fragments, and flammable liquids used as vehicle fuel may serve as an incendiary device. Danny Greene was associated with use of car bombs in Cleveland, Ohio, during the 1970s.[10] More recent events in the United States include the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine High School massacre, and the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt.

Drive-by shootings

Motor vehicles offer similar concealment for transport of weapons to crime scenes in situations like the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and can simultaneously serve as getaway vehicles. Drive-by shootings have been a recurring feature of gang disputes in United States cities,[11] and hip hop artists have been targeted.[12]

Vehicle ownership

United States registered motor vehicles numbered 273.6 million in 2018, up from 193 million in 1990.[13] There were approximately 227.5 million licensed drivers in the United States in 2018.[14] Driver licensing and vehicle registration is typically required only for vehicles being operated on public roads, so inoperative vehicles and vehicles operated on private farmlands, timberlands, mining and factory properties, or racetracks might not be counted. 6.7 million vehicles were involved in collisions in 2018 and approximately thirty percent of those crashes caused injury or death.[15] Collision losses were replaced by 6.3 million new cars sold in 2016.[13]

Costs

United States medical care costs and productivity losses associated with injuries and deaths from motor vehicle crashes exceeded $75 billion in 2017.[3]

Vehicle buyback programs

The state of California has a Cash for Clunkers vehicle buyback program which may help take vehicles off the streets. Eligible vehicles must be registered in California, and must start and run and be driveable, but unable to meet vehicle emission standards.[16]

See also

References
  1. "Key Injury and Violence Data". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  2. Peden, Margie; Scurfield, Richard; Sleet, David; Mohan, Dinesh; Hyder, Adnan A.; Jarawan, Eva; Mathers, Colin (2004). World report on road traffic injury prevention. Geneva: World Health Organization. p. 44. ISBN 92-4-156260-9.
  3. "Motor Vehicle Injury". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  4. Peden, Margie; Scurfield, Richard; Sleet, David; Mohan, Dinesh; Hyder, Adnan A.; Jarawan, Eva; Mathers, Colin (2004). World report on road traffic injury prevention. Geneva: World Health Organization. p. 3. ISBN 92-4-156260-9.
  5. Peden, Margie; Scurfield, Richard; Sleet, David; Mohan, Dinesh; Hyder, Adnan A.; Jarawan, Eva; Mathers, Colin (2004). World report on road traffic injury prevention. Geneva: World Health Organization. pp. 76–78, 125&128. ISBN 92-4-156260-9.
  6. Peden, Margie; Scurfield, Richard; Sleet, David; Mohan, Dinesh; Hyder, Adnan A.; Jarawan, Eva; Mathers, Colin (2004). World report on road traffic injury prevention. Geneva: World Health Organization. pp. 7, 11, 41&79. ISBN 92-4-156260-9.
  7. Peden, Margie; Scurfield, Richard; Sleet, David; Mohan, Dinesh; Hyder, Adnan A.; Jarawan, Eva; Mathers, Colin (2004). World report on road traffic injury prevention. Geneva: World Health Organization. pp. 7, 10, 13, 21, 35, 44-46&79. ISBN 92-4-156260-9.
  8. "Pedestrian Safety". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  9. "Leaving the Scene of an Accident/Hit and Run: State Laws". FindLaw. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  10. Bean, Donald L.; Jensen, Christopher W.; Jindra, Christine J.; Daniels, Robert P.; McAuley, Robert J; Coyne, John P.; Campbell, W. Joseph; Flanagan, James B.; Abbott, David T. (7 October 1977). "Car bomb kills Danny Greene". The Plain Dealer. Advance Publications: 1.
  11. Jones, Kay; Levenson, Eric. "15 injured in Chicago drive-by shooting at funeral for man killed in drive-by shooting". CNN. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  12. Coleman, C. Vernon II (1 February 2013). "They Shootin': 10 Rappers That Were Targeted in Drive-By Shootings". HipHopWired. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  13. "Number of motor vehicles registered in the United States from 1990 to 2018". Statista. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  14. Wagner, I. "Total number of licensed drivers in the U.S. in 2018, by state". Statista. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  15. "Number of vehicle crashes in the United States in 2018, by type". Statista. Statista. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  16. "California Cash for Clunkers Program – 2020 Vehicle Retirement Information". 2020 CashForClunkers.org. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
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