{"id":984,"date":"2012-12-28T12:39:17","date_gmt":"2012-12-28T19:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.www.accurateautoadvice.com\/?p=984"},"modified":"2017-01-04T22:41:57","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T22:41:57","slug":"cars-just-as-dangerous-as-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.accurateautoadvice.com\/the-blog\/cars-just-as-dangerous-as-guns\/","title":{"rendered":"Cars Are Just As Dangerous As Guns"},"content":{"rendered":"
Here’s a popular question on Quora.com<\/a> right now:<\/p>\n Why is America’s Car Culture, which kills 40,000 people per year OK, but our Gun Culture, which kills far fewer, of such great concern?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It has 67 answers (including one from yours truly), 122 followers, and more than 24k views.\u00a0If I had to guess, Id’ say this question is popular because it strikes at the heart of two very passionate groups:<\/p>\n Regardless, a lot of the answers suggest that guns are much worse than cars. This is not true.<\/p>\n I would argue that half of all car “accidents” aren’t accidents at all, but rather reckless and negligent behavior that’s akin to murder<\/strong>. I would argue that cars are JUST as dangerous as guns.<\/p>\n But before we get to why I say cars are just as bad as guns, let’s get to the “guns are worse than cars<\/em>” arguments:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Argument #1. Cars are more useful\/necessary than guns, so it’s OK that they kill so many people.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>This is a dubious argument, as it depends on circumstance. If I’m a police officer defending myself from an armed attacker, a gun is more useful\/necessary than a car. If I’m a regular guy commuting to work, then the opposite is true.<\/p>\n You simply can’t argue necessity without context. Unfortunately, we live in a world where both guns and cars are needed.<\/p>\n Argument\u00a0<\/strong>#2. Unlike guns, cars are not lethal by design<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This argument isn’t really true either. The average car in the USA weighs more than 3,000 lbs and has a top speed in excess of 85mph – it’s a perfectly lethal device. Need proof? About 33k people died<\/a> in or because of a car in 2010.<\/p>\n Now, are cars intended to kill people in the way that guns are? No. But they’re definitely lethal, and that lethality is inherent in their designed capabilities. To say a car isn’t lethal is to make a semantic argument.<\/p>\n Argument\u00a0<\/strong>#3 When someone dies because of a car, it’s an unavoidable and “blameless” accident.<\/strong><\/p>\n At best, a half-truth<\/em>. While there are some vehicle fatalities that are truly bad luck (like some cargo falling off a truck on the highway), the vast majority of fatal “accidents” are neither blameless or unavoidable.<\/p>\n\n
Why Some People Think Guns Are Worse Than Cars…And Why They’re Wrong<\/h2>\n