Connections Report

Associated Press, “AAA: Crashes cost U.S. motorists billions,” CNN, 5 March, 2008.

In this article, the author informs readers of the costs of a car getting involved in a car accident. This article shows that as accidents increase, the per-person toll tends to increase especially in small cities such as Little Rock, Arkansas, Columbia, South Carolina, and Pensacola, Florida. “In the New York metropolitan area, they [accidents] cost the region $18 billion a year or about $962 per personвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ These statics show that larger areas pay much more per-person tolls as a result of accidents. This article also reports that traffic crashes have a larger impact on society than bumper to bumper accidents do. According to Robert L. Darbelnet, who is AAA’s president and chief executive, nearly 43,000 people die each year on the roadways of this country. This means that accidents can in a way be viewed as a healthcare problem, where doctors haven’t really discovered a cure.

I chose this article because I’ve always wondered if drivers were charged any fees yearly for accidents each year. I didn’t know drivers were paying that much money as a result of accidents. I also found it interesting that the size of the city had an effect on the amount drivers had to pay. One thing I also found interesting is that when there are bumper to bumper accidents, drivers to me, seem more aggravated and upset and use a lot more rude language compared to when there’s a traffic crash. In my opinion, drivers seem much calmer during traffic accidents.

Drivers should be informed of how much money they’re spending on traffic accidents. This is because if drivers were aware of how much of their money goes towards traffic, they’d try to lessen the amount they have to pay by being more careful while driving. This would benefit everyone because fewer accidents would lead to less death and also less money being paid by drivers.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/05/crashes.costs.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch