Vehicular violence in the United States

Thewellman: created article

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[[File:Oklahomacitybombing-DF-ST-98-01356.jpg|thumb|damage inflicted by a vehicle bomb in Oklahoma City]]
'''Vehicular violence in the United States''' results in tens of thousands of deaths annually.<ref></ref> More than one hundred people are killed every day from [[motor vehicle]] crashes in the [[United States]]. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the workplace in the United States accounting for 35 percent of all workplace fatalities.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> There are about three million nonfatal vehicle injuries annually<ref name=phg></ref> (about one injury per hundred people). Road transport is the most dangerous situation people deal with on a daily basis; but these casualty figures attract less media attention than other, less frequent [[vehicle-ramming attack]]s, [[car bomb]]s, and [[drive-by shooting]]s.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>

==Speed==
Insurance statistics show that high-speed cars with powerful engines, high acceleration and high top speeds are more frequently involved in crashes than cars with lower speed capacities. The speed of motor vehicles is at the core of the road injury problem. Speed influences both crash risk and crash consequences. Speed exceeding posted limits or inappropriate for existing conditions is a major cause of around one in three fatal and serious crashes. Greater speed decreases time for actions to prevent a collision and increases the severity of collision consequences. The United States increase of [[Interstate highway]] speed limits from per hour to in 1987 caused a 19 to 34 percent increase in fatalities.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>

The vulnerability of the human body is an important design parameter for traffic speed. Pedestrians incur a risk of about 80 percent of being killed at a collision speed of per hour, as opposed to a 10 percent risk at speeds of per hour. At low speeds, drivers have more time to react to unexpected events and to avoid collisions. At speeds of less than 30 km/h, pedestrians and cyclists can mix with motor vehicles in relative safety. At speeds of over per hour, motorists, pedestrians and cyclists increasingly make mistakes, the consequences of which are often fatal. Vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and two-wheeler users are at greater risk than vehicle occupants and usually bear the greatest burden of injury. Of particular concern is the mix between the slow-moving and vulnerable non-motorized road users and fast-moving, motorized vehicles. While there may be fewer cyclist and pedestrian casualties, these road users bear higher fatality rates.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>

The United States road traffic fatality rate was 15.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2000, in comparison with 11 per 100,000 in the [[European Union]] and 6.7 in [[Sweden]] where vehicle speed is restricted to per hour where pedestrians cannot be physically separated from cars. Traffic laws and their enforcement – or lack of enforcement – affect behavior in important ways. Focus on mobility of vehicle users may jeopardize safety of vulnerable road users where speed limits and enforcement are unpopular. Non-motor vehicle users bear a disproportionate share of road injury and risk. Children are especially vulnerable, as their physical and cognitive skills are not fully developed and their smaller stature makes it hard for them to see and to be seen. Children from poorer families and ethnic minority groups have higher rates of unintentional injury than children from more prosperous families. Poorer people comprise the majority of casualties.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>

==Vehicle ramming attacks==
Recent vehicle ramming attacks in the United States include the [[2006 UNC SUV attack]], the [[Ohio State University attack]], and the [[2017 New York City truck attack]] and [[Charlottesville car attack]]. [[Pedestrian]]s killed by motor vehicles in the United States numbered 5,977 in 2017, while an estimated 137,000 required emergency room treatment for nonfatal injury inflicted with a vehicle.<ref></ref> Vehicle ramming attacks targeting a single individual may be investigated as [[Traffic collision|traffic accidents]] or [[manslaughter]] rather than [[murder]], with reduced penalties and less media coverage.

==Vehicle bombs==
Motor vehicles offer convenient transport and concealment for large quantities of [[explosive]]s with delayed or remote activation devices. The vehicle structure may provide destructive fragments, and [[flammable liquid]]s used as vehicle fuel may serve as an [[incendiary device]]. [[Danny Greene]] was associated with use of car bombs in [[Cleveland, Ohio]], during the 1970s.<ref></ref> More recent events in the United States include the [[1993 World Trade Center bombing]], the [[Oklahoma City bombing]], the [[Columbine High School massacre]], and the [[2010 Times Square car bombing attempt]].

==Drive-by shootings==
Motor vehicles offer similar concealment for transport of weapons to [[crime scene]]s in situations like the [[2015 San Bernardino attack]], and can simultaneously serve as [[getaway vehicle]]s. Drive-by shootings have been a recurring feature of [[gang]] disputes in United States cities,<ref></ref> and [[hip hop]] artists have been targeted.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>

== Vehicle ownership ==
United States registered motor vehicles numbered 273.6 million in 2018, up from 193 million in 1990.<ref name=nmv></ref> There were approximately 227.5 million licensed drivers in the United States in 2018.<ref></ref> Driver licensing and vehicle registration is typically required only for vehicles being operated on public roads, so inoperative vehicles and vehicles operated on private farmlands, timberlands, mining and factory properties, or racetracks might not be counted. 6.7 million vehicles were involved in collisions in 2018 and approximately thirty percent of those crashes caused injury or death.<ref></ref> Collision losses were replaced by 6.3 million new cars sold in 2016.<ref name=nmv/>

== Costs ==
United States medical care costs and productivity losses associated with injuries and deaths from motor vehicle crashes exceeded $75 billion in 2017.<ref name=phg/>

== Vehicle buyback programs ==
The state of [[California]] has a ''Cash for Clunkers'' vehicle buyback program which may help take vehicles off the streets. Eligible vehicles must be registered in California, and must start and run and be driveable, but unable to meet [[vehicle emission standard]]s.<ref></ref>

== See also ==
* [[Crime in the United States]]


== References ==


[[Category:Violence in the United States]]
[[Category:Vehicular rampage in the United States]]

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