tallpaul wrote:They are "frequent" by some standards. However, by comparison to all the mikes driven with no accident, they are quite infrequent.
Admittedly, on the statistics, I previously testified according to faith. I can imagine that you argued similarly. Given that, I answered the call that you were making; to back up the information despite your lack of doing so. It was a task, but here is what I found:
American Family Physician wrote:Post-traumatic Stress Reactions Following Motor Vehicle Accidents
DENNIS J. BUTLER, PH.D., and H. STEVEN MOFFIC, M.D.
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
NICK W. TURKAL, M.D.
University of Wisconsin Medical School
Madison, Wisconsin
A patient information handout on post-traumatic stress after traffic accidents, written by the authors of this article, is provided on page 531.
Despite improvements in road conditions, vehicle safety and driver education, over 3 million persons are injured in motor vehicle accidents each year. Many of these persons develop post-traumatic stress symptoms that can become chronic. Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder experience disabling memories and anxiety related to the traumatic event. Early identification of these patients is critical to allow for intervention and prevent greater impairment and restriction. The family physician is in an ideal position to identify, treat or refer patients with traumatic responses to traffic accidents. The physician's awareness of patient characteristics and pre-accident functioning allows him or her to critically evaluate symptoms that may begin to interfere with the resumption of daily activities. (Am Fam Physician 1999;60:524-31.)
Most Americans will be involved in a motor vehicle accident in their lifetime, and one quarter of the population will be involved in accidents that result in serious injuries.1 Annually, more than 3.5 million persons in the United States are injured in a motor vehicle accident, and nearly 42,000 die as a result of their injuries.2
Vehicular accidents sometimes lead to post-traumatic stress symptoms.3-9 Traffic accidents have become the leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since the Vietnam war.10 It is estimated that 9 percent of survivors of serious accidents develop significant post-traumatic stress symptoms1 and that many other survivors have PTSD-like reactions.
Continued.
Please remember that the effect on individuals is not the only worrying effect and that air pollution is a cause for concern, but as to 'infrequency,' not only is over 1% of the population each year "frequent" but "most Americans" is as well.
Another
site says that vehicular homicide is the more common than all other forms of homicide combined.
Ibid. wrote:Do you suggest that because automobiles cause problems for some people, everyone should walk, ride a bicycle, or ride a horse?
No. Traveling on the road from state to state, I noticed a lot of trucks. Trucks likely bringing the necessary nourishment for urban life. Furthermore, trains and buses, which are improving to be ecologically negligent, are arguably 'safe' (especially if less cars were around) and facilitating for our lifestyles.
Horses, I hear, crap too much, but walking, strollers, and bikes should compliment ecological buses and trains, ideally. I have not done much "research" besides from bias bus and train advertising suggesting that they were ecological, though. I am apt to change, but so many personal cars--as a dangerous factor to individuals, families, and society--are, so far, out of the question. The convenience of attending a restaurant in a closed, secluded vehicle doesn't match up with subordinating a child to a wheelchair until he dies an early death from alcoholism, I am afraid.