In reply to jkarran:
If everyone is paying attention then there is considerably less chance of the kinetic energy being brought to bear on the human body.
In recent times, most of the reduction in UK road deaths has been due to improvements in vehicle engineering. Most of that relates to injury prevention when the accident happens. The scope for significant further progress in that area is reducing.
I would very much like us to turn our attention to preventing the accident in the first place. Cutting speed and reducing accidents is just not the same thing. Human beings are strange creatures and we need stimulation. For heaven's sake, this is a climbing website full of adrenalin junkies who need their risk fix! And it's not just us. The entire species needs their risk fix.
If it is soporifically boring then people consciously or otherwise introduce ways of heightening the risk. In the case of car drivers, this usually involves the Five Cs.
- CD players, radios and MP3 player
- Cellular phones
- Companions (ranging from conversation to copulation)
- Cup holders and their contents
- Catalepsy (ranging from trance to full on sleep)
Post edited at 19:25