TN Road Death's

[Guest TankerHC]

Thought I would mention this, not looking for responses, none necessary (Unless someone wants to, it is a Forum after all). I came across the thread about that fella Brandon's mom. Had not seen it, I dont think I even logged in on the 25th, too hectic, from pre sunup to midnight we were going non stop. I do recall thinking however I would wish everyone Merry Christmas and dont think I did so "Belated Merry Christmas to all TNGO members". And a jump on a Happy New Year.If I would have I probably would have said something like "Merry Christmas, be safe on the roads". And then changed my mind because no one needs to be told that, everyone knows to be safe on the roads.  But thats not what I wanted to mention. S if anyone reads this take it for whatever. 

 

I am a proactive driver. I constantly look all directions, use all of my mirrors etc. But I WAS a speeder (But not a serial speeder, unless I needed to get somewhere and was crunched for time), until this past October 1st or thereabouts. Driving 35 years and never had an accident, only two speeding tickets and one was thrown out (Never got caught), Been involved in a couple of accidents, rear ended by a guy reading a Newspaper at 70 miles an hour, sent my wife to the hospital with a broken neck, another rear ender, no one injured, just the transmission on our car destroyed. But we have had something similar occur in our family as Brandon's, had an aunt and Uncle killed by a drunk driver on the New Jersey Turnpike on their wedding night back in the 70's, had a 16 year old daughter of a cousin killed not long ago because a driver was texting while driving, prior to this Thanksgiving my sisters SIL was killed by a drunk driver and then unbelievably a week later so was her husband. And that wasnt the end of it, the day of the second Funeral that couples two year old was with the Grandparents, they left her in the yard for a moment and when they came back out the two year old was hanging by the neck from the chain of a swing and they dont know how she got up there. Not that it affected me directly, but the actions of two drunk drivers directly and indirectly caused an entire family to be wiped out in a week. But that is STILL not what I wanted to point out.

 

Tennessee has more of those digital signs than any state I have ever driven in. The ones that tell the number of casualties on Tennessee's roads. This is why I slow down and now no longer exceed the speed limit and also am even more proactive when driving. My wife never has (Been a speeder), I cant get her to drive 1 mile over the speed limit no matter how late we are, which is why she has never received so much as a ticket in 39 years. But believe it or not, 25 years ago she and another girl were hit head on by a drunk driver and she had to have her face reconstructed after going through the windshield. The amount of casualties on America's roads never occurred to me, not really, but driving to Gettysburg we passed one of those signs on the Interstate and it said that so far this year (1st week of October) there were 639 deaths on Tennessee Highways. Said to the wife "Wow did you read that sign?", she didnt, told her the number and mentioned that is a lot of sorrow for a single state just from accidents. Coming back, saw the same sign. In a week, approximately ANOTHER 100 people had died on Tennessee roads.  Again I asked my wife if she had seen that. And pointed out the same thing.

 

There is one of those signs on 153, heading to Hamilton last week I slow down to read it. Over NINE HUNDRED PEOPLE died on Tennessee roads up to last week. I believe the number was 936 when I saw it. And can you believe, I was told last night by a cop buddy of mine that THAT is a low number? 

 

I am  not preaching, I could care less if anyone reads this or not. But for anyone who does, New Years eve is coming up, I'm also not going to say to anyone "Be safe" as it appears you can be completely safe and someone can still take you out. 

 

But I have been considering mentioning this for a week but decided not to, then had a discussion last night on road casualties, and then came across the Prayer request post tonight. So I thought I would.

 

And to all of you Law Enforcement Officers who spend time away from your families during the Holidays trying to keep the mass slaughter to a minimum. Thanks. 

Edited December 30, 2013 by TankerHC

[GlockSpock]

Not belittling the loss of anyone's child, but 1000 car deaths a year in Tennessee is like a Sandy Hook happening every single day in this state alone. Let's ban automobiles if it will save JUST ONE CHILD. And actually, it would save at least one child...probably every single day or the year. Sent from my iPhone using [URL=http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1]Tapatalk[/URL]

[scoutfsu]

If you think about the number of people on the roads daily, it is a low number (very low in my snap judgment/guess). 

[Guest TankerHC]

If you think about the number of people on the roads daily, it is a low number (very low in my snap judgment/guess). 

 

 

Well from what I was told, your snap judgement is right. 

[Guest TankerHC]

Not belittling the loss of anyone's child, but 1000 car deaths a year in Tennessee is like a Sandy Hook happening every single day in this state alone. Let's ban automobiles if it will save JUST ONE CHILD. And actually, it would save at least one child...probably every single day or the year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Back in January I recall people on TV saying the reason we should have guns registered, like Drivers licenses, is that it helps prevent road deaths. Some numbers were thrown out on TV, one woman who I cannot recall who she was, stated that road deaths had dropped to just over 10,000 last year from some unbelievably high number in in 1990, due to vehicle registration and licensed tested drivers. Equating how it would help save lives with guns and owners being licensed and tested before being allowed to own one, which also brought up the Insurance debate.

 

If that was the case, which I didnt believe anyway, then TN alone would be responsible for nearly 1/10th of the driver related accidental deaths in the Nation. 

[Steelharp]

What I don't understand on those signs is the number of deaths for LAST year that they show keeps rising. They keep bumping it to greater than this year. What's up with that? How do people keep dying LAST year??

[tennessee01tacoma]

It's compared year to date so it's a direct comparison day by day.

So in other words if you looked at the board on October 15th it would be deaths for 2012 up to October 15th and for 2013 Edited December 30, 2013 by tennessee01tacoma

[Sam1]

They need to use the signs constructively and not as a death scoreboard.

[JGunner]

What I don't understand on those signs is the number of deaths for LAST year that they show keeps rising. They keep bumping it to greater than this year. What's up with that? How do people keep dying LAST year??

I think the "last year" numbers are saying "up to this date" here is the count from last year. It's comparing this years current deaths to last years through the same time.

I.e on oct 25 the sign shows deaths from 1/1/2012 to 10/25/12
And it shows total from 1/1/2013 to 10/25/2013

Edit: I'm slow, y'all beat me to it. Edited December 30, 2013 by JGunner

[Steelharp]

For trivia, when the system was first announced in the Tennessean, it was referred to as the "Tennessee Intelligent Transportation System."

 

Didn't take long for the name change to happen. Can you see why?  :rofl:

[GlockSpock]

For trivia, when the system was first announced in the Tennessean, it was referred to as the "Tennessee Intelligent Transportation System."

 

Didn't take long for the name change to happen. Can you see why?  :rofl:

 

WooHoo!

[TMF]

I took my kids out a few days before Christmas to look at Christmas lights. This was around 5 pm. Our trip was delayed by a drunk who had plowed into a van at 70 mph in a 45 mph zone, at 5 in the evening. He had hit several other vehicles in two hit-and-runs just prior to this. He hurt a lot of people that night. He was only charged with DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.

This is why we have problems. There are no consequences to the actions of these people. There should felony charges for aggravated assault when you get sauced up and hurt people. The act is intentional. If we were a few minutes earlier leaving the house this may have been us getting hit, with my babies in the car. Hurting my children because you're a drunk ahole should come with severe penalties. Not a fine and one night in jail. Our government condones this behavior by not leveling more serious charges. Drunk driving should be a felony the second you injure someone. It should come with a death sentence. Drunk drivers deserve to die. Edited December 30, 2013 by TMF

[gregintenn]

They need to use the signs constructively and not as a death scoreboard.

Yeah, They should read "Lay your f$*&ing cell phone down and drive!!!"

[Smith55]

I'm glad you explained why last year's numbers kept increasing. i had wondered what was going on.

[thundersnow]

I just assumed it was run by the state so the numbers were artificially increasing for no particular reason...

[Patton]

It is in fact in comparison to the same calendar date the year before. Also though keep in mind that if you were involved in a serious wreck and injured someone they have one year to count their death as a fatality for the year. From today until Dec 31, 2014, I bet 2013 TN traffic fatalities increase by 5-10 more fatalities. Edited January 1, 2014 by Patton

[runco]

Here is a good resource:

http://www.tn.gov/safety/stats/CrashData/default.shtml

[Guest TankerHC]

Here is a good resource:

http://www.tn.gov/safety/stats/CrashData/default.shtml

 

A quick question on that. What is "Land use"? Is that 4 wheeler accidents, off road motorcycle accidents? Things like that?

 

Edit: I see where that is seperate, so the question still is "What is land use" if everything else is covered? Cant be farming because there is Rural and Urban. 

Edited January 1, 2014 by TankerHC