As I drove to Seattle on I-5 from my home in Steilacoom, south of Tacoma, I kept a steady pace in the far-right lane for safety’s sake, restraining my speed to about five miles per hour above the limit. Okay, I admit I was over the limit, but my car was the slowest one on the highway. Most drivers were traveling 70 or 75 mph. A few were doing 80 or so. Occasionally, a hellbent risk-taker passed all of us nearing 100, as he or she switched lanes and weaved around the other lawbreakers. You have surely noticed a devil-may-care predisposition many drivers exhibit since the onset of the pandemic.
Because of the recent uptick in fatalities on our highways and byways, it seems prudent to stay away from expressways, tollways, and freeways altogether. I’m aware the odds of dying in a traffic crash are less than 1%, but each time I merge onto a freeway I experience the same feeling one must have when casting dice at a craps table. Figure eventually the odds will catch up. Are surface streets less dicey? Yes, yes, I am aware surface streets can be more dangerous than America’s highways, but it only takes a few breathtaking trips on I-5 to qualify as a fear-of-driving sufferer. Semi-truck drivers who have been on the road 15 hours without sleep, all those distracted drivers holding smartphones to their noses while going 75 mph, and the pickup truck loaded with box springs and mattresses barely secured as they flap and shuffle against headwinds—all high-speed hazards must give us pause. Measured by the number of traffic deaths per capita, the German Autobahn is safer than most American interstates. Google that conclusion if you have doubts. In Washington state alone traffic deaths through July 2023 of this year have already surpassed 2022 year’s total, and each week we add more to the kill count. It is too dangerous to drive on interstate highways. Conclusion: don’t do it. You may be dead tomorrow because you chose to merge onto Coffin Expressway.
Fair to say that we live in an auto-centric country, and as such we love the horsepower our cars provide. The more horsepower the better. You’ve seen the commercials: cars going way too fast, drivers grinning as if speed is happiness (even though small print warns you to not do what you are witnessing). Or the commercial that shows a driver and his passengers clapping their knees as the car goes down the highway with no one steering. Oy Vey! “Sorry, officer. I was eating a sandwich and my ADAS (advanced driver-assistance system) must have not seen that big yellow school bus.” We depend on the highway patrol to enforce the laws of the road, but as we all know there aren’t enough traffic cops to do the job properly. My theory: I could drive 90 MPH from here to Seattle without spotting a traffic cop. Someone, I’m sure, tests my supposition right now.
Why the increase in traffic fatalities? Speeding, distracted driving, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol are the primary causes of car crashes. Added to road dangers is a public permissiveness to lethal behavior. A cultural change is needed, but technology can help lower the risks straightaway. Automated speed enforcement cameras and other fixed radar devices work well. Intelligent speed assistance systems which prevent drivers from exceeding speed limits are already in use on some European highways. Traffic calming designs (roundabouts, speed humps, chicanes, rumble strips, and like engineering strategies) reduce crashes and injuries wherever they are employed. Speed limiters (governors) on vehicles automatically restricts speed at or below the limit. Plenty of engineering and technical advancements could be employed right now to save lives. To be clear, however, politicians and the driving public would find it a hard sell to govern speed and driver options merely to save lives. While the slaughter from car crashes is preventable, as is the carnage from gun deaths, we don’t have the political will or safety sense to stop the killing.
Whether we like it or not, vehicles lacking steering wheels or foot pedals will someday take us where we want to go. One assumes crashes will diminish or disappear when autonomous vehicle travel is perfected. The more discretion is taken away from a human pilot, the safer the highways will become. In future, smart highway technology will become the decider rather than the person behind the wheel, if a steering wheel is even available.