It's great also that companies like General Motors have developed seat belts and air bags that are all over the car to protect us. P/S you go fight the War and loose your arms and a..

@Unitedstates1776

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20051201/marijuana-raises-risk-of-fatal-car-crash

Hmm, doesn't specify what age the people were who were involved in those accidents does it trust_verify. Highly likely, pun not intended, that teens constitute the majority of those accidents and even more likely that alcohol was also involved in those accidents. Or how many of those accidents were due to people high on "legitimate" doctor prescribed drugs?

Keep on using BS statistics to demonize pot, its been going on since the days of 'Reefer Madness'. Of course, then it was "Watch out parents or your daughters wil be raped by Negros all hopped up on reefer." Utterly racist BS, which conservatives bought hook line & sinker, and unfortunately still do buy.

The truth is that pot isn't the great evil it has been painted to be by some, and could go a long way in helping the US dig out of the colossal economic hole we are currently in. Who got us in that hole? The same folks who have been demonizing pot for far too long.

What a stupid report. People could have smoked marijuana weeks before the crash and it would still show up on a drug test. On the contrary, people who use marijuana in lieu of prescription drugs and alcohol are less likely to be involved in an accident.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-11/todays-study-debate-medical-marijuana-laws-reduce-traffic-fatalities

WOW all this safety has nothing to do with the way cars are made, it is only the police that make us safe. anti-lock disk brakes...nothing. Air bags for front, sides and head mean nothing ....only cops make us safe. Steel beams in the doors.....adds nothing only the police make us safe.

San Diego was so broke, they couldn't patrol the freeways...result.....LESS accidents. When people look at the road not their speedometer, they are safer drivers. Chicken sh*t tickets for rolling a stop sign....their specialty.

Get rid of half the cops and we will be safer, and more free.....they create crime They are not highway patrolmen, they are highwaymen....licensed to carry a gun, licensed to rip you off to pay their salary.

Traffic court..... who owns the traffic schools....cops.....no conflict of interest?

California Supreme court rules ticket quotas are illegal..... so what do the pigs do? They have a "presumed performance criteria" IE we do the same thing as quota, but we changed the name , not what they are doing......CROOKS

DON"T GET HIGH ON ANYTHING and drive.

I have done several mind altering substances and they ALL affect your perception, reflexes, etc.

Is booze worse than pot to drive on? Yes.

Will you be sober after light drinking in a few hours? Probably.

Will you still feel the effects of Marijuana hours later? Probably.

There are pluses and minuses to both don't do either.

40 years ago, when in HS, a cop stopped me when I was walking home at 1am. I had been drinking. I told him since I had been drinking I didn't drive my car.

I told him where my car was at, several miles away. He radioed, to check, then thanked me for having the sense not to drive.

I have never had a DUII, nor will I, because I don't drive under the influence of ANY intoxicant.

Use your head!

I gotta ask, did you actually read what you pointed to? 7% (seven %)of the people involved in fatal car crashes tested positive for marijuana.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2009 cited 14,995,632 cannabis consumers aged 18 years and older who had used at least once in the past month.

From the Federal Highway Administration "In 2006, there were nearly 203 million licensed drivers in the United States."

Note that 15M / 200M = 7.5%!! In short, the percentage of people involved in fatal traffic accidents was the same as the percentage of the general population who smoke pot!

What is your point?

Agree with the guy that pointed out this article looks at behavior and ignores the main reason for less deaths. I work on cars for a living and they are so much better and safer than they were 20, or 30, years ago. Recently, my 62 year old mother walked away from a rear end collision where she was hit by a truck moving at roughly 50mph. Her car was scrap, but she didn't even have neck pain. Just amazing. Needless to say, she replaced that car with one of the exact same model. Didn't even consider something different after that.

"......in fatal car crashes tested positive for marijuana."

The question remains, where they under the influence, or did they smoke it two weeks ago? I don't condone driving under the influence of anything, but that statistic means absolutely nothing.

Spontaneous combustions are up 6%. 4.5% of people over the age of 40 shat their pants more often that the previous year. 50% of the country still remains clinically insane.

i dont ever recall a news headline that reads like this " marijuana driver kiils kids/peple at bus stop"...boozers are losers !

trust_verify, you actually believe that ridiculous planted information?

Hard to get into a crash when you're going 2 MPH !

Using marijuana can make you test positive many days after you've used some.

So yeah in a fatal crash you'll see lots of people test positive. But guess what? That does not mean they used any recently.

Millions of people use marijuana daily and if it was in any way a crash danger you would see it called out daily on the national news networks.

.

@super x

GM didn't invent seatbelts

News

where they under the influence, or did they smoke it two weeks ago?

You are still under the influence, to some degree, even two weeks later.

When I quit my everyday use I noticed a huge bump in awareness and energy after being clean for about a month.

It's a proven fact 72% of the time, that 82% of statistics can be manipulated by 14% of the people resulting in a 93% confusion rate among an approximated 68% of the population. That 68% constitutes a super-majority by 1%, thus compelling 100% of the population to believe exactly 0% of anything published by the government. You now understand?

- Edge

"You are still under the influence, to some degree, even two weeks later."

OK, you're right. Anybody who has taken any medication or drank a beer can't drive for a month.

I can remember as a child in the late 60's we would take a cross country road trip every summer. It was common every years, somewhere along the juncture to see fatal car wrecks where the police etc were there taking care of things. I still have images of the blood covered sheets in my mind. I NEVER see things like this any longer. Certainly not every year.

Rightly Concerned

"Keep on using BS statistics to demonize pot, its been going on since the days of 'Reefer Madness'. Of course, then it was "Watch out parents or your daughters wil be raped by Negros all hopped up on reefer." Utterly racist BS, which conservatives bought hook line & sinker, and unfortunately still do buy.

The truth is that pot isn't the great evil it has been painted to be by some, and could go a long way in helping the US dig out of the colossal economic hole we are currently in. Who got us in that hole? The same folks who have been demonizing pot for far too long."

The truth is that cotton a timber companies were behind the ban because hemp was/is a better and cheaper material than either. The high was just the excuse. No one had anything except dirt weed at the time. And it was not a right wing thing. It was the both the dems and repubs who encouraged banning it before and during the Roosevelt administration when dems controlled the congress and the presidency, with Roosevelt agreeing and endorsing the ban in March 1935.

The left always want to blame the right for stupidity but there is plenty of stupidity on both sides.

The real reason pot isn't legal today is not because it gets you high. It is because it is nearly impossible to tax. Anyone can grow it anywhere, anytime.

The dirt weed of the past grew wild and still does in many places. It is the strongest natural fiber in nature and almost impossible to get a high from it. Hence the term "smoking rope." All rope in America used to be made from hemp. Home grown. It is a weed that can grow nearly anywhere,

Personally, I cannot support its use as a drug, but I am not a doctor. However, if any drug should be legalized, that is the one. It would eliminate a lot of crime, even though its use while driving is not a good idea. There are tests to see if someone recently used it and should be standard procedure in cases of DUI. Recent use means you are impaired.

The dems were the ones who finally made it illegal during the Roosevelt admin. It was and still is all political and even Obama wants the status quo.

New

Alcohol leaves your system much quicker.

There is a reason you still pee dirty if you use drugs.

Just the way it is.

Reality if you have used Do Not Drive.

Real simple. If you go to a friends house and smoke a bowl find another way home.

While it may be all fine right now for those people that cripple, maim, or kill someone because they weren't 100% it will never be fine.

superx, GM didnt develop the seat belt or airbag:

Does everyone just spout off their lack of knowledge?!?!?

Less cars on the road due to gas prices and no one can afford to drink.

UnitedStates1776

"And marijuana killed nobody.

Maybe we should outlaw cars instead."

Can you prove MJ never killed anyone after they used it?

Of course you can't. Hor can you prove that it naver caused any car deaths.

Pot heads always know what they cannot prove.

From the report cited by trust_verify:

Researchers say about 2.5% of the fatal crashes were attributable to marijuana compared with nearly 29% attributable to alcohol.

And our priority for preventing fatalities should be.....

jOrgan; Last time I checked, the drug tests they perform only detect the metabolites from marijuana use. Its metabolites are not psychoactive and have no more effect on the brain than eating a cheeseburger, possibly less. Someone who uses marijuana may remain under its influence for several hours if consumed orally or a few if smoked. After that, they are clinically sober. You sound like one of those people our government pays to create fake online profiles. Here is another fact. One of the two major therapeutically active ingredients in cannabis is CBD, which is shown to heighten awareness and does not produce a high. It is also true that people with a tolerance or experience driving under its influence do not experience any judgement deficits when driving. In my opinion it is more dangerous to drive while sleep deprived. Hey Bob, what does naver mean? You can't spell simple words and you are trying to convince people that marijuana kills? Idiots always try to prove what others know to be false.

UnitedStates1776 my point was that your statement about MJ never killing is incorrect. Years ago I knew a guy who was simply LUCKY he did not die. Instead his subcompact was wrapped around him like a girdle and he was scalped from his forehead to the base of his neck. The ONLY thing in his system was MJ. Apparently he couldn't SEE the 18 wheeler he illegally turned in front of. I guess he thought it was a super reefer smoking along.

ANY drug that is mood/mind altering is a danger while driving. Those that physically impair are as well. The FACT that it is illegal means one should NOT drive while under the influence. Get the law changed and go for it. Just provide the STANDARDS to test against. Don't try to convince us here, get the fed/dot/state convinced.

I personally could care less what you consume in the privacy of your own place. I have issue when you want to impose the results on the rest of us. I don't see why anyone but you should pay for your indulgences. That means if you OD it's YOUR medical bill not the insurance or society. That means that if you are impaired (why else would you smoke or otherwise consume it) you shouldn't be exposing others to it.

Ah - the auto industry takes all the credit for government regulations requiring seat belts, air bags, better construction, drunk driving laws, etc! Damn guv'ment!

Advances in Emergency Medical and trauma care probably also play some part in decreasing fatalities. In the 1960's, ambulances were little more than a station wagon with a flashing red light , oxygen and bandages. Now with well-equiped Rescue Units, trained EMT's/Paramedics and plus Life Flight services; critically injured people survive what would have been fatal in the past. Trauma care has saved the lives of a number of friends/ family members that certainly would have died in the past,

I"m sure some % of auto accidents are caused by people that have not smoked MJ. Does that imply we should outlaw driving unless you smoke some MJ? This whole conversation about people needing weeks to 'sober up' is ridiculous.

Leo your on the right track lad... A summery execution on the spot of anyone breaking the traffic laws. I can see the need for militarized sniper drones patrolling the highways. This should "send a message" to law breakers that they will be dealt with severely. Zero zero tolerance. Maybe even some explosive devices could be engineered in to the car designs to explode if the car computer detects the auto being handled in an unsafe manner. We have to instill Fear in the hearts and minds of motorists for the safety of us safe drivers.. pfft ..

Hell why stop there? We should post TSA agents at every street corner to systematically check all vehicles for weapons of mass distruction!

yeah, more government to protect us from ourselves. when will you bleeding hearts realize that harsher punishments will work better than any government agency!!!!

Ah guys, we'll lose at least one third or higher of our Police Officers, Politicans and Federal Agents if we have Summery executions on the spot.. A goodly number of those drunks are the road and speeders are Law Enforcement Officers who think they are "Special" and get a "Pass" by fellow Officers...

KiloByte1339

We should post TSA agents at every street corner

Are they worth double points if you get 2 or more TSA while in the crosswalk?

You know what, you are absolutely right! The hell with any freedom! You have no right to drive unless you are absolutely sober! We need a police state!

The fact that you never had an accident doesn't matter! The State knows better than you do! How dare you suggest that you know better than the State!

The Nazis had the right idea! Nobody should even exist unless they conform! GAS THE NON-CONFORMERS!

Heck, why stop with the TSA on street corners? They should be allowed into our houses to check for Jews...er....hmmm.... Really, random BAC test? How on earth would that jive with unreasonable search? Didn't think that one through at all did we? That'd be a great way to flush any illusions we have left of a free society.

If you really want zero tolerance, put a tester in all motor vehicles that check for anything the reduces the senses. If the sensor sense, no start the car. Anyone caught with disconnected sensor goes to jail for 5 years with no parole. That is a deterrent. Same for cell phones, sensor in car so it won't run with any electronic signal coming from it.

Of course everyone will agree with this unless they drink, use drugs, or use cellphones while driving.

The cellphone ban law is a joke because it is not even enforced until after and accident. I see people talking on them every time I drive, which isn't often.

KiloByte1339

"Hell why stop there? We should post TSA agents at every street corner to systematically check all vehicles for weapons of mass distruction!"

It is destruction. Maybe you need to be checked.

Seriously, inebriated drivers need to stop driving. Like any law, none will be cared about by those who don't care, and when inebriated, no one cares.

Will those who don't care ever learn? Doubtful. Maybe when they are hanged by the balls or the tits on the spot. That would wake at least a few up after inebriated driving.

@Bob

I agree, hook a breathalyzer into the ignition and the drunk driving problem is solved. It'll never fly though - how will lawyers, cops and courts make money?

Kinetic energy kills and breathing in smoke with radioactive chemicals kills

The number of drunk drivers on the road has DOUBLED!!! in the last 25 years! since the legal bac limit was cut in half! Coincidence?

x, is it really the number has doubled, or is it the number that are getting caught and reported has doubled? strong enforcement = more reports

coincidence?

the % of traffic stops that result in d.u.i. charges has doubled. does not = more drunk drivers. does not= more traffic stops. nothing has really changed except our definition of drunk driving.

JOregon,

Truck drivers are the safest people on the road, buckled up or not.

The worst drivers are young people and illegal aliens. The young think they are invincible and the illegals just don't care.

Btw, I am in the Milwaukie. I know who the worst drivers in Oregon are and they are not Oregon natives. I have been unemployed for 31 months and can still afford to drive where I need to go. Not on welfare either. Insurance costs more than gas and with 2 vehicles we drive less than 300 miles per year. Not violations for over 25 years. I ride a bike too, but too many crazies make me not to want to.

Bob

300 miles a year? when the expected average is usually closer to 13,000 miles a year.

I have spent a lot of time around truck drivers. Even driven a box truck myself quite a bit.

Like everyone else there are good ones and bad ones.

Ran across one that ranted about the amazing properties of Meth.

Claimed he hadn't slept in 4 days. Using Meth was like 8 hours sleep. I never saw evidence he used, but I wonder if he is alive today.

I have known drivers that work off the log book. And I know drivers that keep 2 books.

And of course there are the guys that only drive local, never go through weigh stations.

I spent 25 years on the road (not a truck) and I have seen some pretty bad drivers of all sorts of vehicles.

Sorry, meant 3000 miles per year, or less. Bad drivers in all sorts of vehicles. Most are not licensed or American. Legal or illegal transplants are the worst. Truck drivers, are the best. Very few cause accidents, especially when compared to the general population and especially compared to foreign born drivers, legal or not.

The total killed and injured by "accident" with vehicles dwarfs those killed or injured by people using guns. So, which should be outlawed or restrict users?

Bottom line: Distracted driving regardless of the means kills over 5000 per year and injures nearly 1/2 million. The toll is more than nearly anything else, including murders with guns.

@Bob-number

"The total killed and injured by "accident" with vehicles dwarfs those killed or injured by people using guns. So, which should be outlawed or restrict users?"

sorry Bob....more wrong statistics from a liberal anti-gun proponent

lets just take 2007 "fatal accidents" stats:

*percent of total "accidents" for 2007

motor vehicle traffic 34%

firearm 1%

*only 3 from the list of 19 catagories are lower than firearm

pedal cyclist , cut/pierce , overexertion

*wake up and smell what you are shoveling...because we sure as hell can smell it

@Bob-number

YOU WERE CORRECT...I stand corrected on my "person to retort"...I chose the wrong poster while trying to back up your statement...sorry for the stupidity

Thanks for correcting yourself. Most here would not even try. They worship the media, left or right, and never bother to check the facts. DO you own research and never trust a thing anyone says on a blog because most are not about the truth. Most are about parroting what they heard from the media. Fox is #1 in the media world. Msnbc is #3. Look it up. I don't trust either. They both exist to sell advertising. Nothing more. They don't care about the truth as long as they can get creative and sell ignorant people a story and get a paycheck from an advertiser.

I am a right wing democrat. I believe in God and that keeping and bearing arms is an unalienable right, beyond any government control. I believe that we are all free to pursue our own happiness, as long as it doesn't tread on the rights of anyone else.

Too many people get behind the wheel and think they are invincible and don't care about anything that could happen when distracted. Freedom to travel is a unalienable right. Driving is a privilege which requires responsibility. Unfortunately, to many drivers are not responsible and don't care to be. They text and talk on phones even though it is illegal in most states, at least without being hands free. They drink and get behind the wheel when they shouldn't, and blame a bartender. They use drugs and think it is ok to drive. And when they kill somebody because of their stupidity, most want to place the blame somewhere other than themselves.

It is not the car's fault. It is the person driving the car. It is not the gun's fault. It is the person who pulled the trigger.

The restriction on either is different. Owning guns is a right. Driving a car is not. The ownership of both is similar in America, but the misuse is more predominant with the car.

If one looks at the stats closely, he will find that cars are used in crime far more often than guns. If he looks further, he will find that most gun crimes are by those who are already banned from owning guns. Is anyone banned from owning a car after he has committed a crime with one? No.

And of the gun fatalities, if one looks close at the stats, about half are justified. Justified or not, they are still called homicide. When it comes to fatalities by cars, most are called accidents. The definition of an accident is something that cannot be avoided. Nearly all car deaths can be avoided if the driver who caused the "accident" plugged in his brain before getting behind the wheel.

Personally, I believe very few accident happen. Most that are called accident can be avoided with personal responsibility.

Have to agree with texting and yacking on the phone are killers, so are complicated on-board entertainment systems.

I think .05 is fair as a legal limit though. Allows someone the chance for a glass of wine with dinner with a margin for error. Parts of Europe mandate 0.02%...which is pretty well nothing but allows for error.

Bring in Random Breath Testing - 5 minute recent use Random Drug Swab testing as well. People have to pass drug tests these days for jobs, why not for driving?

LR.. Talking on the phone is one thing. I'll readily admit to that. But only on incoming calls, I never make one while driving. But I also know what's going on around me. I'm constanly scanning the road and mirrors, I even call out to the wife to watch X car because he/she is about to XXX and 9 times out of 10 they do the stupid thing that if one wasn't aware they would do could have bad results.

But cars in general ARE safer, and that's a good thing. What's really interesting about that is most people don't realize a good portion of those "safety improvements" come from that Redneck sport called NASCAR. Now that's going to really get some folks panties in a bunch!!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and SAFE New Year!!!!

XDM9mm

Ask and you shall receive.

http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell-phone/statistics.html

Good ideas XD, We should also check for papers to make sure everyone is legal, oh and maybe a short written driving quiz. Age is a real problem so it should be restricted to anyone over 21 and under 55. Too many wild kids burning up our gas supply and old ppl cant drive worth beans. bring back the 55 MPH speed limit and use speed bumps on every corner. We got to make amarika safe.

pfft...

Leonard Rockstein

"Have to agree with texting and yacking on the phone are killers, so are complicated on-board entertainment systems.

I think .05 is fair as a legal limit though. Allows someone the chance for a glass of wine with dinner with a margin for error. Parts of Europe mandate 0.02%...which is pretty well nothing but allows for error.

Bring in Random Breath Testing - 5 minute recent use Random Drug Swab testing as well. People have to pass drug tests these days for jobs, why not for driving?"

Totally agree, as I posted above. Many of the collisions are caused by people using cell phones. They don't need to answer or call while driving. They are spoiled idiots if they do. There is no reason to be talking on a cell while driving, unless you have such a lousy phone that it doesn't have voice mail which you can respond to when parked. What kind of cell phone doesn't have voice mail? I paid $15 for my phone and $100 for 1000 minutes per year. It has voice mail and there is no one I want to talk to when I am driving. If the call is important, they will wait until I can find a safe place to stop. Those that think incoming calls are all so important, just haven't had the pleasure of having theirs or someone else's brains scraped off the ground yet because of their stupidity of talking while driving.

Btw, I think you have to be drunk, smoking a cigarette, flipping someone off and having sex in the car while in France to be legally impaired.

. bring back the 55 MPH speed limit

nah, make it 25, hard to have a fatal head-on collision if both are doing 25

over 50,000 motor vehicle deaths have been directly attributed to the implementation of "cafe standards"...interesting

Wrong. We want to see you off the streets because you hate everyone who is right. LOL

Staying at home and drinking is the best way to go rather than being a drunk driver, whether you can afford the gas or not. But in reality, if you can afford the booze, you can afford the gas. Gas can get you a lot further than a bottle of booze for a lot less $.

Rick.. I drove big trucks for several years. It's not that the safety devices haven't changed, it's the larger number of trucks on the road. But yes, I put on an average of 135,000 miles a year behind the wheel. Fortunately never had a road accident, although I did do a couple of stupid things in yards, but they weren't a danger to others.... just me.

However, the flip side of that is there are also a larger number of 4wheelers that don't give a big truck the room it needs. I can't remember all the times a 4wheeler cut directly in front of me and then hit the brakes or stayed in my blind spot, or tried to cut under me when I was making a wide turn. Professional drivers TRY their best to avoid accidents, and even the AAA admits in 74% of the time accidents are the fault of the 4wheeler.

I'd STILL like to see statistics on how many accidents are caused by texting while driving.

Concerning trucks it says large truck occupants have seen an increase in fatalities.

I still think it is because the profit margin of driving a truck has gone down. More trucks are run as a team. The one sleeping in the sleeper isn't wearing a seat belt.

Also I think more drivers are pushing their fatigue limits to try to remain profitable.

XDm9MM: Have you ever driven through Virginia out of North Carolina North on I-77? Try it some time in a car and try staying close the speed limit to avoid a ticket and you will see who are the worst drivers on that stretch of road. I drive it sometimes weekly and once you top Fancy Gap mountain be on your guard. Many rig operators on those upslopes will look in their review mirrors as they approach another truck going 2mph slower than them and although they see I am approaching 50 yards back in the fast lane they whip out and cut me off as if I weren't around and if it weren't for ABS there are many times I would have lost control under heavy braking. I blame it on younger hot shot drivers but who really knows. A couple times I anticipated they were going to pull this on me and I speeded up to 75 or 80 and they backed down, but that nonsense will get you a ticket. What's more annoying is it takes 2 or 3 minutes for them to make their pass. all the whille cars are packing up behind them. North I-81 out of Tennessee into Virginia is probably as bad.

Rick-742681

"This is an interesting article however while the number of deaths has dropped a bigger problem is the number of people who survive with massive brain injuries leaving them vegetables for the rest of their lives."

That is not a comprehensive sentence, so what are you really trying to say? That you have had brain injuries? Just curious.

He is saying that the lowered number of fatalities may be offset by an increase in survivors with no real quality of life due to severe brain damage. I thought that was pretty clear, however incorrect it may be. This poses a moral dilemma of whether it is worse to die or become an invalid. Not sure how you came up with the idea that he had a disability. You're just full of stereotypes and insults.

Scott-3839755

"I think some of the credit should go to vehicle manufacturers for building safer vehicles."

All of the credit should go to them, until GM started making the Volt at taxpayer expense.

Drivers haven't gotten safer. Vehicles have by government decree because most people are too stupid to drive defensively and sanely. The ignorant always want to blame the manufacturer. With the volt, blame Obama, since he is the puppet master of Gm now.

• In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in the U.S. because of accidents that involved distracted driving. Another 448,000 were injured.
• Of the 5,474 killed because of distracted driving, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a factor. However, the number of fatalities caused by cell phone use could be much higher. For those who were injured, 24,000 involved reports of cell phone use as a distraction.
• The under-20 age group had the highest percentage of distracted drivers; 16% of drivers under 20 years old involved in fatal crashes were distracted while driving.
• The 30- to 39-year-old age group had the highest percentage of cell phone use in fatal crashes.
• More people are driving while distracted when they are involved in fatal crashes. The percentage of fatalities associated with distracted drivers increased from 10% in 2005 to 16% in 2009.
• In 2009, 867 fatal crashes were reported to have involved cell phones as a means for driver distraction (18% of all fatal distracted-driving crashes).
• People driving light trucks and motorcyclists had the highest percentage of total drivers reported as distracted at the time of fatal crashes (12% each).
• A teen driver riding with one other passenger doubles the risk of being involved in a fatal car crash. With two or more passengers, the risk increases to five times as likely.
• Research reveals that 46% of drivers under 18 admit to texting while driving. Driver distraction is a factor in 25- to 50% of all car accidents, with 61% of teen drivers admitting to risky driving habits.
• In 2009, the South had the highest percentage of cell phone use while driving at 6%. The Northeast came in at 4%.

http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell-phone/statistics.html

In other words kids, hang up and be responsible instead of being the entitled ignorant fools you thing you are supposed to be. Of course this doesn't mean all of the young are fools. It means that too many of them are while they blame something else for their own behavior. 46% of you are screw-ups while driving. Why? Probably because of dumb parents who thought buying you a cell phone was a good thing.

People are driving less and rarely go very far out of town.

People are keeping their speed down.

Gas cost too much money.

JOregon, That's only in Oregon, and that's mostly because Oregonians are some of the worst and most stoned drivers on the planet. I have never seen so many beat up old Volvos, really old Toyota Pick ups, and VW Bugs still on the road in my life, and their favorite trick is to crusie stubbornly in the fast lane at 50 MPH. And I mean stubbornly, they will not move over for ANYBODY even its an 18 wheeler bearing down on them at 80 MPH ! The bearded wonders have given me the finger several times as I disgutedly blow by them in my Vette!

Valient, overall fatalities are down, the teen group is just a part of the "Overall" and they are up.

I think you would find that a lot of people on the right don't denounce what the Federal government does. Many of them just don't like who is doing it while others question whether they have the legal right to do so. That doesn't mean they denounce traffic regulation that results in saved lives. Still, others don't like the way in which the Feds bribe states and other countries into passing laws by offering lots of money. None of this changes the fact that less fatalities is a noteworthy accomplishment.

Right Matt, we need "Car control" measures like if a drunk driver is repeatedly caught DUI, confiscate the car. We don't allow children to go around playing with dangerous toys and to some folks a car is just a toy.

I was wondering how someone would blame Obama, well done. Hopefully the government will get out of the highway business and turn it over to private corporations, then it will all be toll roads and less people will die on the roads because they have no money to pay the tolls.

Better yet, do away with that evil government and let's all sit around and wait for jeebus to brb.

Gas prices have doubled since Mr. Obama took office. According to the GasBuddy gasoline price tracking web site, the price of a gallon of regular gas was around $1.79 when Mr. Obama took office. Today the national average is $3.58. The lowest average price in the continental United States is $3.31 in Tulsa Oklahoma, the highest is $4.14 in Santa Barbara, CA. Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has arrived on average throughout California, and a number of other states are headed in that direction.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2011/mar/30/gas-prices-double-under-obama/

@old & tired..........

i think u need to check your resources...

I don't recall gas being under $3.00 in many many years...

of cource I use super...so I may be off .25 cents

Ah, but you really need to look at the national debt; not since Obama took office, but since your buddy Bush took office...

When Bush took office, debt was ~$6T and gas cost $1.51/gallon. When Bush left office debt was $12.8T and gas cost $3.75/gallon.

What is it about debt and inflation that you don't understand?

If we should be so lucky. I will send you a full tanks worth. What is your mailing address? (note the correct use of a question mark)

When Bush took office, debt was ~$6T and gas cost $1.51/gallon. When Bush left office debt was $12.8T and gas cost $3.75/gallon.

What is it about debt and inflation that you don't understand?

I can still picture my Mother throwing her arm across my chest when she had to stop.

I do have some friends that are no longer here, apparently their Mothers weren't as strong.

Rick in the Forest a.k.a. "Lucky"

I've gotten pretty tired of reading about people our age who broke their necks in no-seat belt car accidents and now paint Christmas care designs, holding their paintbrushes in their teeth.

The kids who fell from play ground equipment in the 1960's? They ended up in warehouses special ed classes and institutions, except for the few who never grew any older, and who lie in the graveyards.

Wrong answer Pat. When Bush took office, he got a Surplus and Gas was $1.35 a gallon. Right before the end of his term in office, Diesel got up to almost $6 bucks a gallon. As a Longhaul Trucker, I could show you the receipts. Also I can tell you that it is Paradise out there for Truckers once you get past the Fuel Costs because no one is on the roads like they used to be. No more ridiculous traffic jams in any big cities outside of rush hour.

High Fuel prices thanks to the Sub Prime Melt Down that killed the Value of the Dollar that happened on Bushes watch.

Vote for another Oil Man like Rick Perry and see Fuel Costs go even Higher!

Don't even try and rewrite History, everyone has the Internets!

Ted -

Yeah, you are right, everyone has the internets...

Check these figures...

When Bush took office, debt was ~$6T and gas cost $1.51/gallon. When Bush left office debt was $12.8T and gas cost $3.75/gallon.

What is it about debt and inflation that you don't understand?

What is it about the devaluation of the Dollar as a result of the Bush Sub Prime Melt Down that you don't understand?

Pat, The President does not control world wide Oil prices.