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Open Source Mapping Software Shows Every Traffic Death On Earth

Posted by timothy on from the dashed-line-shows-leaper's-path dept.

cartechboy writes "Traffic deaths are set to outpace AIDS/HIV and malaria in the developing world, so the UN is trying to change that perception. This shocking open source, interactive map of crash data from the Pulitzer Center ought to help. It's grisly, but very informative. The mapping was produced by Pulitzer Center journalists using open source mapping technology from Mapbox. Compare the U.S. fatality rate of 11.4 per 100,000 to that of other nations, like the Dominican Republic, Iran, and Thailand and see how people were traveling when when killed (car, bicycle, etc)."

5 of 322 comments (clear)

  1. Only one thing to do! by Somebody+Is+Using+My · · Score: 5, Insightful

    US Deaths caused by illicit drug overdose - ~5,000 per year
    WAR ON DRUGS!!!!

    US Deaths caused by terrorists - 3000, twelve years ago
    WAR ON TERROR!!!!

    US Deaths caused by hacking - 1 (and that one by "friendly fire", sorry Aaron Schwartz)
    WAR ON HACKING!!!!

    US Deaths caused by automobile accidents - 30,000 per year
    umm...
    We'll get back to you on that.

    (admittedly not a fair or entirely accurate comparison... but it does say something about America's priorities.)

  2. Re:Dominican Republic, Iran and Thailand stats by csubi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Really?

    First, a 10-fold difference is quite important. Second, I would like to see the average speed of motorized traffic in these countries.

    Fatality rate is 41.7 per 100000 in DR and ~4 in Germany. Now my guess is that should people try to drive in the DR as fast as it is customary in Germany, that 41.7 rate would go much higher...

  3. You can say the same about guns by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You can't say the same about guns.

    Millions upon millions of guns are sold legally each year. Between hunting and range shooting you can in fact say that the OVERWHELMING majority of guns are used as safe, useful, non-criminal tools.

    Only 31k people died from gun injuries in the U.S. in 2011 - of those many were criminals shot, and 19k were suicides! Again, millions of guns sold, a tiny number of deaths, especially if you compare number of deaths per total number of guns to number of deaths per total cars...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  4. Re:Disappointing by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, I have to agree. I was expecting something elaborate. This could have been just as useful as a shared Google doc spreadsheet of data.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  5. Re:Dominican Republic, Iran and Thailand stats by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful
    You are crazy. If you look at deaths per yer per 100K vehicles, the rate ranges from 14,050 (Togo) down to 4.6 (Malta). Other samples: UK (5.1), US (15), Russia (55), Bangladesh (6,300).

    14,000 vs 5 is not a close call in my book.