Thursday, November 02, 2006

Real Terror

Suppose terrorists killed 35000 people a year.

Think about what a blow that would be to this country. Thousands of innocents dead every year. Maybe 10 X that many hurt. Many paralyzed, or losing a limb. What rights would we give up then?

Suppose the war in Iraq cost 35000 lives a year. We'd be approaching, what, 150000 deaths? What support would there be in this country for that? And what if many of them were children? Pregnant women?

We have a ban on Euthanasia.

Yet, the automobile does what the above cannot, and we sit, and we do nothing. 35000 dead. There were two pile ups on the I 74 bridge. Thank God, no one was hurt.

Hey, here's a test...who do you know who died in a terrorist attack, or in a war, or was hurt in either. Now...who do you know who died in a car accident or was hurt in one.

Given today's technology, our car addiction is a crime. Wrecking thousands of lives and costing the economy billions. Given the computing power that can be brought to bear, we should be able to have a personal, public, computerized, safe transportation system. But we absolutely refuse to put our money or give up our "freedom" to suport such a thing. We are like a primitive tribe. Sacrificing to the Gods for our self involved desires.

Would you be a Christian if it meant giving up your car?

Look, and I'm not even getting into the environmental damage.

We can go there too.

What do you think? Defend your transportation choice to the mother of a dead child.

3 comments:

cruiser said...

I was thinking of doing a similar post. Let's hope it makes people think for a moment.

Robbie said...

your logic makes no sense... driving, along with basically any action on this earth is deadly. everytime americans eat a cheeseburger they are killing themselves... everytime someone smokes they are killing theirself and those around... so yes driving is a risk... but so are other activities we do daily. the difference? most of the things we do take their toll over a long period of time... but with driving its a matter of seconds...

the benfits of personal travel are great. at any time i can get in my car and drive all over the country. i dont have to worry about train schedules, airport schedules, or anything... at my destination i can still get to places... almost anywhere in this country is accessible by car. if i would like to go see the ocean, or the mountains, i can drive. it has made the world easily accessible to most people.

Socialist Christian Hippie said...

Your quote about toys makes perfect sense. Toys are pulled when they cause but a few deaths or even cause the "risk" of a few deaths. Yet, there are cars killing 30,000 a year. 300,000 every ten years.

Yes, the last line is a little over the top, but I've heard professors compare driving to ancient blood sacrifice.

There used to be a great public transportation system in this country. The car companies helped destroy it. They still fight against it, as their creation destroys the environment and continues killing.

Obviously, some form of personal transport is needed. Yet, sane policy should be urged upon our leaders. America, and a lot of the world, seem totally blind to the damage automobile transportation does in the world.

It would be simple to put a chip in cars that would stop them from being able to go over, let's say 80 MPH. Adaptive cruise control could be mandated for use on interstates.

A magnitic strip in the side of the road, and GPS monitoring combined with both of the above should produce safer interstates.

Computers can fly airplanes, now. How much more computing power do we really need before auto drive cars that are 10X safer than the current system could appear? Imagine...10X safer? Maybe 3000 die a year. Insurance, 1/10th of the cost?

Yet, it seems, the desire to have a car that could go 120 MPH is more inportant. The desire to actually steer and push the accelerator more fun than saving lives.

Is going fast more important?

When someone needs to wake up, you need to shout a little louder