Lead Cause of Death for Kids? Cars.

Icy overpass. Closed street blocked by cones. Busy traffic at bottom of hill. A driver decides safety is for other people.

Here is a story from yesterday afternoon: "The mother and children were walking across a controlled crosswalk with flashing lights and bright yellow crossing signs when a vehicle driven by a 31-year-old woman hit the children."

Earlier that day, Wednesday, August 4, Dan Bertolet wrote a post called "Car Hater," in which he referenced the fact that the leading cause of death among children in the U.S. is motor vehicle injuries. Sightline picked up the mini-meme, noting that car accidents are the leading cause of death for anyone under 35.

The point in both cases was for people to reassess their driving habit in light of the inevitable danger involved in piloting a multi-ton vehicle at speed. The safest way to drive is not to drive at all, but no one thinks, on an impulse jaunt to the store, that they've just upped the chances they'll kill someone.

We see people every day--if we're honest, we are those people--who believe in their heart that statistics are for people who don't drive as well as we do. It's easy enough. You assume the brakes will work, the pedestrian won't trip, the light will stay yellow long enough. It's a tragedy of the driving commons.

In 2009, over 6,000 lives were spared when the recession cut down on car trips. Think of that: 6,000 people alive today because someone thought twice about needing to drive somewhere.