How U.S Road Safety Compares to Other Countries

That is, not very well.

1 minute read

September 6, 2016, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


The Economist follows on recent news about a jump in traffic fatalities around the United States to offer some international perspective: "By most counts America has the worst road-safety record in the rich world."

The article includes more detail about how the United States compares to the rest of the world:

Its rate of 10.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year is almost twice as high as Belgium’s, the next-worst well-off country, and roughly level with that of Mexico. One of the main reasons that the United States sits atop this grim ranking is because Americans drive far more often than the rich-world average. When miles travelled are taken into account, America was actually a bit safer than Japan, Slovenia and Belgium in 2013 (the most recent year with comparable data).

Despite that significant caveat, The Economist also notes that many countries are improving the safety of their roads

Monday, September 5, 2016 in The Economist

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