Humanize the Earth!

Public Policy that kills

Escapable Logic quotes eduction writer John Taylor Gatto:

With less than thirty hours of combined training and experience, a hundred million people are allowed access to vehicular weapons more lethal than pistols or rifles. Turned loose without a teacher, so to speak. Why does our government make such presumptions of competence, placing nearly unqualified trust in drivers . . . ?

Yes, I’m taking this quote out of context. Gatto’s critique is of the state school system, but mine is of the vehicular weapons that cause over 40,000 fatalities per year in the US alone. That figure continues to astound me. Why do we accept it? Imagine 40,000 airline deaths per year, or 40,000 rail traffic deaths per year, or 40,000 terrorist attack deaths (leaving aside the Iraq war for a moment, okay?). Astounding, isn’t it?

Categories: transportation