If someone feels like doing something dangerous today, just jump in a car and hit the road. According to the National Safety Council, it’s about 20 times safer to hop on a bicycle. Buses are even less risky: it’s approximately 76 times safer to ride the bus than to drive a car. Even when buses and other forms of mass transit are available, people still choose to drive. Americans still have a love affair with their cars. Why is that?
Some Italian researchers published a paper in Transport Policy about what they called the “car effect.” When other transportation choices were available, people did not choose the cheaper or quicker means of transport, they chose cars. They may say that they would take buses or trains ‘if they were available’, but history has shown that not to be generally true in many areas. People like their privacy, they like the convenience and they like to drive. City buses and Amtrak get subsidies for several reasons, but lack of enough passengers to pay the bills is one of the major reasons.
The study found that people chose cars over mass transit nearly 2-to-1 even when taking their cars cost 50% more than using buses or trains. This doesn’t offer much hope of reduced congestion on our highways, which translates into more accidents. Distracted drivers are the leading cause of auto accidents every year and that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon. Chances are, everyone will be involved in an auto accident sooner or later. The best most of us can do is to drive as carefully as possible and if an accident does happen, protect your rights.
Jacobson, Schrinsky and Houck specializes in representing people who have been injured in auto or motorcycle accidents, bitten by dogs, slipped and fell or otherwise suffered injury because of someone’s negligence. The attorneys aggressively protect their client’s rights in the most effective ways possible. They are driven to see that their clients receive the highest compensation possible. This is their right and one of the core elements of our justice system. If someone has been injured and needs an experienced Accident Lawyer in Milwaukee, contact this firm for a free initial consultation.
