The Unspoken Dangers of America’s Roads
Gregg Easterbrook, author of the article, “Road Kill,” in the Los Angeles Times, argues that the United States is far more concerned about terrorism than it is concerned with the thousands of people dying at the hands of distracted driving and overwhelming horsepower on our nation’s roads. Easterbrook states in this article that the thousands of traffic deaths our nation experiences each year are uncovered by the media, unheralded by the public, and preventable (A-2--4).
Easterbrook makes reference to the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 to show us how much more we care about terrorism deaths than we care about traffic deaths (A-2). Easterbrook identifies his argument about the lack of coverage, …show more content…
Blame. Easterbrook writes about how the media’s lack of coverage in regards to traffic deaths may be the result of the sponsorship and advertising dollars the media receives from the automobile industry. He mentions that the automobile juggernauts would much rather hear news anchors discuss celebrities, terrorism, or foreign affairs than hear about the thousands of traffic deaths that occur each year. Easterbrook then begins to point the finger at us--society. He says we are to blame as well because we just assume that car accidents are unavoidable. Easterbrook feels that these deaths could be prevented if we put more care and effort into making our roads safer (A-3). Easterbrook writes, “[b]ecause we don’t want to contemplate dying in a car crash, we seem to assume that highway fatalities cannot be reduced […] [t]his isn’t so” …show more content…
Easterbrook suggests that thousands of traffic deaths each year could be avoided by drivers putting down their phones and focusing on the road. He acknowledges that people use their phones while driving because they know they can get away with it. Therefore, he feels that the consequences for using a phone while driving have to be tough enough to convince people it isn’t worth the risk. Without adequate consequences, he doesn’t think that people will stop using their phones while driving. He then talks about the high amount of horsepower in vehicles, which also contributes to the rising number of traffic deaths (A-3). Easterbrook writes, “[c]ars with high horsepower and rapid acceleration are easy to lose control of, especially for young drivers” (A-3). This increase in horsepower has led to more accidents, thus causing more traffic deaths
Gregg Easterbrook, author of the article, “Road Kill,” in the Los Angeles Times, argues that the United States is far more concerned about terrorism than it is concerned with the thousands of people dying at the hands of distracted driving and overwhelming horsepower on our nation’s roads. Easterbrook states in this article that the thousands of traffic deaths our nation experiences each year are uncovered by the media, unheralded by the public, and preventable (A-2--4).
Easterbrook makes reference to the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 to show us how much more we care about terrorism deaths than we care about traffic deaths (A-2). Easterbrook identifies his argument about the lack of coverage, …show more content…
Blame. Easterbrook writes about how the media’s lack of coverage in regards to traffic deaths may be the result of the sponsorship and advertising dollars the media receives from the automobile industry. He mentions that the automobile juggernauts would much rather hear news anchors discuss celebrities, terrorism, or foreign affairs than hear about the thousands of traffic deaths that occur each year. Easterbrook then begins to point the finger at us--society. He says we are to blame as well because we just assume that car accidents are unavoidable. Easterbrook feels that these deaths could be prevented if we put more care and effort into making our roads safer (A-3). Easterbrook writes, “[b]ecause we don’t want to contemplate dying in a car crash, we seem to assume that highway fatalities cannot be reduced […] [t]his isn’t so” …show more content…
Easterbrook suggests that thousands of traffic deaths each year could be avoided by drivers putting down their phones and focusing on the road. He acknowledges that people use their phones while driving because they know they can get away with it. Therefore, he feels that the consequences for using a phone while driving have to be tough enough to convince people it isn’t worth the risk. Without adequate consequences, he doesn’t think that people will stop using their phones while driving. He then talks about the high amount of horsepower in vehicles, which also contributes to the rising number of traffic deaths (A-3). Easterbrook writes, “[c]ars with high horsepower and rapid acceleration are easy to lose control of, especially for young drivers” (A-3). This increase in horsepower has led to more accidents, thus causing more traffic deaths