Speed limits

[Kramerman]

Another important factor would be 'car density'. By which i mean the amount of cars in a given area... New York City is inherently more dangerous to drive in than say the French country side, as is the American country side much safer than downtown Paris, because there are less hazards (i.e. other moving vehicles)

[el freako]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin


I have an extremely hard time believing that the French are safest drivers.

Well this is probably a case where statistics show just how wrong people's 'gut feelings' can be.


That said remember this is the number of deaths or injuries from road accidents.
It could be that the French have just as many accidents as the rest of us but theirs are usually more minor.

[Dauphin]

Its not gut feeling, its based on passed statistics.

In 1998, there were 144 French road fatalities per million inhabitants, compared with 117 Italian, 93 German and 58 British.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,398081,00.html

[Brizey]

el freako:

Interesting data, but that is all it is, interesting. The driving conditions, laws, vehicle types, driver's training, age restrictions, vehicle age, climate, truck-car-motorcycle mix, and a host of other things vary tremendously between the countries you list. It is impossible to draw any cause-effect conclusion from the data. It says absolutely nothign about the capabilities of the drivers of the countries.

[Dauphin]

I seem to recall one statistic is that 10% of French road deaths are due to driving into trees.

[Provost Harrison]

I thought so SD, I have seen statistics where Portugal and Greece are the most dangerous. Apparently the most dangerous road in Europe runs along the Algarve. I have been on that road many a time (although not driving myself)

[Sava]

Speed limits on some US interstate highways should be increased, there is no doubt. Also, your fine should be dependent on your yearly income (like a European country, I forget which). Also, more emphasis should be put on ticketing tailgaters. Tailgating causes far more accidents than speeding. I think in crowded urban areas, there should be camera systems monitoring traffic and massive enforcement of tailgating laws. Speeding is less of a priority in road safety. And all vehicles should have some sort of Blood Alcohol Level testing device. Drunk driving kills tens of thousands in the US.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin
I seem to recall one statistic is that 10% of French road deaths are due to driving into trees.

I'm sure there's a Scotland/sex with sheeps/driving fatalities joke out there somewhere.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
I thought so SD, I have seen statistics where Portugal and Greece are the most dangerous. Apparently the most dangerous road in Europe runs along the Algarve. I have been on that road many a time (although not driving myself)

http://www.observer.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,796328,00.html

I posted that article in another thread in response to someone saying that speeding was not a major cause of death. It is.

[el freako]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin
Its not gut feeling, its based on passed statistics.

In 1998, there were 144 French road fatalities per million inhabitants, compared with 117 Italian, 93 German and 58 British.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/...398081,00.html

Ah I see the difference between us, I was measuring both fatalities and injuries whereas you are just measuring fatalities.

This shows that much care must be taken in stating exactly what is being measured in statistics.


Yes you are correct in terms of fatalities France does do poorly (which begs the question of why such a higher proportion of road accidents in France ends in death than elsewhere).

Here are the fatalities per 100,000 people for 2000:

United States: 15
Japan: 8
Germany: 9
France: 14
Britian: 6
Italy: 11
EU average: 11


It is also interesting to note the differing rates of fatalities:

Deaths as % of Total Killed and Injured in road accidents:

United States: 1.3%
Japan: 0.9%
Germany: 1.4%
France: 4.9%
Britian: 1.1%
Italy: 2.0%
EU average: 2.3%

In the EU the only countries with worse fatality rates than France are Greece and (surprisingly) Denmark and Luxembourg.


So you can say that the French are much less likely to have an accident but if they do then it is far more likely to result in a fatality.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by el freako


Ah I see the difference between us, I was measuring both fatalities and injuries whereas you are just measuring fatalities.

Actually, we are measuring reported injuries/fatalities.

I'd put more faith in the death figures as they are probably necessarily accurate (you can't avoid reporting a fatality). Injuries could be anything from near fatal to a few cuts and bruises. The difference in injury statistics could just be down to French drivers not reporting minor incidences as they are assumed to be par for the course.

[Sava]

Glad to see America isn't leading the way in that deadly group of statistics.

[el freako]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin


Actually, we are measuring reported injuries/fatalities.

I'd put more faith in the death figures as they are probably necessarily accurate (you can't avoid reporting a fatality). Injuries could be anything from near fatal to a few cuts and bruises. The difference in injury statistics could just be down to French drivers not reporting minor incidences as they are assumed to be par for the course.

Or it could be due to a poor performance by French emergency services.
Both of these would explain the difference, why are Danish and Luxembourgoise accidents so fatal then - the same reasons?

Are you sure you are not putting more faith in something that you want to be the reason?

[Dauphin]

It could be any reason, but in my experience with statistics, how you collect the data in two different situations often has a bigger impact than the real difference in data (i.e the data difference if both situations were measured in an identical fashion). So I look at possible collection differences first.

[Grrr]

Originally posted by Caligastia


In New Zealand we call it a motorway.

If I was still living in auckland I'd go out and take a photo of the "Pacific Coast Highway" sign ...

It's actually a small country road btw .