bluelines:
As we know, statistics are lies, but anyway... if you look road fatalities per year per 100'000 inhabitants then you have US 11.4, Canada 6.8 and Switzerland 4.2. It does seem to fit the views and laws a bit too well to be true
Have a nice day folks and drive safe!
I think that's a bit misleading because I don't believe it takes into account km driven. Here are the numbers for traffic related death rate per 1B km. There could be 100,000 cars on the road in one country driving 5K km per year each, but 100,000 cars in other doing 25K km per year. I believe Americans drive waaaay more than a lot of European countries on average. Gas and cars are much cheaper, and we make use of all that space :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
US - 7.6
CA - 6.1
CH - 5.6
DE - 4.9
UK - 4.3
DE has the highest speeds but is quite low on the list.
I think most of the difference is actually behavioral and cultural. Regardless of the rules, which are actually not that much different from country to country and usually not inadequate, there is a massive difference between someplace like China and Germany. Laws are similar, but the drivers are worlds apart. China is a fucking madhouse with some of the dumbest, most mind-boggling shit you'll ever see on the road of a developed country. I say developed because I'm talking about the major, rich, developed cities, not the rural areas filled with unsafe drivers and cars. Don't get me wrong, their system works amazingly well for keeping the traffic flowing in cities so densely populated, but people do some really dumb stuff even when the roads are empty.
The other day, the inside lane of a two lane road (2 going each way,) was closed for like 10 feet surrounding a sewer or something, and leading up to that point there was a car in each lane. It was night and the roads were more or less empty. So what does the guy in the closed, inside lane do to get around the brief closure? Instead of just slowing down for a split second and changing to the right lane behind the other car, and then getting back in the left lane if he wanted, he actually goes into the oncoming traffic lane. Goes there for a second, passes the sewer hole, then gets back in his lane. It was mind-boggling to see because even though that on-coming lane was empty, it just didn't make any sense. You would never in a million years so someone do that in Germany.
Even the drivers in the US and Germany are quite different. I don't think the laws make German roads safer, I think it's the education and the type of people driving. Cars are sooooo accessible in the US. The training is cheap, the cars are cheap, gas is cheap, and it's pretty much a necessity in most parts of the US due to sheer size and urban sprawl. In some sense that makes US drivers probably some of the most experienced in the world, but that doesn't guarantee they've developed good habits.
I really don't think abiding by traffic laws, specifically speeding, is what's making the difference. I think it's more of an educational thing. I don't believe it's hard enough to get on the road in the US and based on my driver's education experience, it's not really very educating. I believe the best drivers have the most experience and good common sense. While experience can only be gained one way, common sense doesn't really grow and for all those people (lots!) who seem to lack it, the education doesn't fill in the rest.