Although it provides an unprecedented degree of mobility, motor vehicle travel is like a game of Russian Roulette. In 1997, a total of 41,967 people died on this nations highways. That is 115 every day or 1 every 13 minutes. I can't help but wonder what kind of uproar there would be if 115 people died in airplane crashes every day. I wonder if the courts, the lawmakers, and law enforcement would be so lax. Not long ago, there was an article in the local newspaper about a series of traffic crashes on a rainy day. The police officer and the police spokesperson were both quoted as saying the crashes were caused by the weather. Well according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the weather doesn't cause crashes. That is covered in the Speeding catagory and called "driving too fast for conditions". A total of 13,036 lives were lost in this manner and 86% of these occured on roads that were not interstate highways.

Of the 41,967 highway deaths last year, 16,189 (38.6%) were alcohol related. I think we can all agree that the DUI laws and enforcement are good and they are tough. Now what about the 30% (13,036 lives) caused by speeding. Are the laws and enforcement tough enough? I don't think so. On a 150 mile trip I took yesterday which was mostly interstate, I didn't see a single police officer. In the police department I worked for from 1987 till 1994, only about 5% of the officers did any traffic enforcement on a regular basis and about 40 percent didn't do it at all accept for DUI enforcement.

No matter when you go out on the highway in your vehicle, you will see people breaking the law. It might be rolling through a stop sign, running a red light, rolling through a red light when turning right, speeding, turning without giving a signal, passing on a double solid line, etc. etc. etc. I wonder if these violators would get on an airplane if the pilot violated FAA regulations the same way they violate the traffic laws. I stopped many people when I was a police officer who told me they didn't know how fast they were going or what the speed limit was. I wonder if they would get on an airplane if the pilot was no more aware of what he was doing than they were.

Now you ask what are we to do. First of all, we must obey the laws that are there for our protection and secondly, drive very defensively to cover our rear ends from the people who think they are in control and crashes always happen to someone else. Lawmakers must consider that driving is not a right but a privilege and make much tougher laws. There are not enough police to enforce these so I suggest using the system they use in Europe. The radar is hooked to a camera and if a vehicle is speeding, a picture is taken and a ticket is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle. Sure, make the owner responsible. Also triple the fines for any traffic related offense. We must also let people know that violators will not be tolerated. This can be done by taking away the driving privilege for a week, month, or year for what is now considered minor offenses.

These might seem like drastic measures and would surely have civil liberterians up in arms but something has to be done besides just making safer cars. Cars from the old days were not unsafe, the drivers were (as they are now).