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The hidden inequality of who dies in car crashes
Washington Post ^ | 10/01/2015 | By Emily Badger and Christopher Ingraham

Posted on 10/01/2015 1:54:24 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd

Traffic fatalities in the United States have been plummeting for years, a major victory for regulation (strict drunken driving laws have helped) and auto innovation (we have safer cars). But that progress obscures a surprising type of inequality: The most disadvantaged are more likely — and have grown even more likely over time — to die in car crashes than people who are well-off.

New research by Sam Harper, Thomas J. Charters and Erin C. Strumpf, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, finds that improvements in road safety since the 1990s haven't been evenly shared. The biggest declines in fatalities have occurred among the most educated. As for people 25 and older with less than a high school diploma, fatality rates have actually increased over time, bucking the national trend.

The underlying issue here is not that a college degree makes you a better driver. Rather, the least-educated tend to live with a lot of other conditions that can make getting around more dangerous. They own cars that are older and have lower crash-test ratings. Those with less education are also likely to earn less and to have the money for fancy safety features such as side airbags, automatic warnings and rear cameras.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: carcrashes; psychology; riskybehavior
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Bottom line:
Stupid people die more in car wrecks.

1 posted on 10/01/2015 1:54:24 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
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To: Responsibility2nd

“Women and children hardest hit.”


2 posted on 10/01/2015 1:56:01 PM PDT by Fido969
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To: Responsibility2nd

ok, so this is part of income inequality, white privilege, the evil 1%, all of that. Got it..........


3 posted on 10/01/2015 1:56:04 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Responsibility2nd

Us poor ignernt hillbillies who make it to middle age are pros.


4 posted on 10/01/2015 1:56:25 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

So clearly we need to buy new cars for the lower socio-economic groups.

Something with a catchy name, like maybe Cash-For-Clunkers.


5 posted on 10/01/2015 1:57:15 PM PDT by Gamecock (Preach the gospel daily, use words if necessary is like saying Feed the hungry use food if necessary)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Seat belts help a LOT too...my experience is the crappier the vehicle, the less likely you’ll see the driver wearing belts.


6 posted on 10/01/2015 1:57:41 PM PDT by nascarnation (C. Edmund Wright says I'm a moron)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Stupid people do not wear seat belts.


7 posted on 10/01/2015 1:57:50 PM PDT by forgotten man
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To: Responsibility2nd

Could it be: less standards you try and meet in life? You don’t have as much to lose, so you don’t protect yourself as much?

Think of the difference in your driving when you are single and coming home tired after a late night, and how you drive when you have your children plus another family’s child in the back seat. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE in how cautious you drive.


8 posted on 10/01/2015 1:57:51 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: Responsibility2nd

hey you piece of @#$@#$ rag, i had a broken down nova, and then another one, and since i’m typing this i’m still alive.

All my friends and I were lower middle class Italians. We all had junk for cars. out of about 15 of us, NONE died.

maybe you should look into the CULTURE of those who are dying.

@#$#$ dam victim hunting parasites.

what the hell are the gonna think of next?


9 posted on 10/01/2015 1:58:16 PM PDT by dp0622
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To: Gamecock

Never happen, same reason the govt doesn’t have “gas stamps” for the poor.

Statists want to get people out of private vehicles and into mass transit. It’s all about control.


10 posted on 10/01/2015 1:58:51 PM PDT by nascarnation (C. Edmund Wright says I'm a moron)
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To: Responsibility2nd

#lamnorghiniprivlege


11 posted on 10/01/2015 1:58:52 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey ("Never, Never, Never, Give Up," Winston Churchill ><>)
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To: Responsibility2nd
It is caused by:

#1 Global Warming

#2 Climate Change

12 posted on 10/01/2015 1:59:11 PM PDT by TYVets
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To: All

make that #lamborghiniprivlege


13 posted on 10/01/2015 2:00:03 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey ("Never, Never, Never, Give Up," Winston Churchill ><>)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Well I am glad they are putting the lack of ‘COL’ money to good use.

I was afraid ‘they’ were wasting it.

This govt reminds me of the disheveled man talking to a reporter-
“Yes, I made millions on my invention.
However, I spent a lot on wild women and booze and just wasted the rest”.


14 posted on 10/01/2015 2:00:29 PM PDT by xrmusn ((6/98)"I start feeling that IÂ’m Diagonally Parked In A Parallel Universe".)
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To: Responsibility2nd

#CarWreckVictimLivesMatter


15 posted on 10/01/2015 2:00:35 PM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: Responsibility2nd
The underlying issue here is not that a college degree makes you a better driver. Rather, the least-educated tend to live with a lot of other conditions that can make getting around more dangerous. They own cars that are older and have lower crash-test ratings. Those with less education are also likely to earn less and to have the money for fancy safety features such as side airbags, automatic warnings and rear cameras.

If they don't get into an accident in the first place, then the lack of first-class safety equipment is moot. So it really is about being a better driver.

-PJ

16 posted on 10/01/2015 2:00:43 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

17 posted on 10/01/2015 2:00:46 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Lack of education causes all kinds of problems, especially when you live in an advanced society like ours.

That’s why we spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year on education.


18 posted on 10/01/2015 2:01:07 PM PDT by Steely Tom (Vote GOP: A Slower Handbasket)
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get a used Volvo


19 posted on 10/01/2015 2:01:09 PM PDT by KneelBeforeZod (I have five dollars for each of you)
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To: Responsibility2nd

>>As for people 25 and older with less than a high school diploma, fatality rates have actually increased over time, bucking the national trend.

>>They own cars that are older and have lower crash-test ratings.

They might also be people who make poor decisions, such as not graduating from high school. These are the folks who cut across 4 lanes of interstate traffic moving at 80 mph so they can hit the off-ramp that was clearly marked with signs a mile back. Same for running stop lights. Texting while driving. Seat belt use. Most crashes begin with one or more bad decisions.

Even a 5 year old Kia has 10 air bags, so the “older car” excuse may have worked in 2000, but its kinda outlived its usefulness.


20 posted on 10/01/2015 2:02:41 PM PDT by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
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