For many people, the riskiest part of the day is driving a car. About 33,000 Americans die each year in motor vehicle accidents.1 That’s just deaths, not including injuries like brain damage, broken bones, and lost limbs. As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) puts it: “Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the U.S. More than 2.5 million drivers and passengers were treated in emergency departments as the result of being injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2012.”2
When driving, you are at the mercy of other people’s driving skills–or the lack thereof. No amount of “defensive driving” can prevent a reckless driver from driving six inches behind you on the freeway.
After an aggressive driver rear-ended Ann’s car and seriously hurt her neck several years ago ringing up tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, we decided we needed a change.
But how would we change the behavior of other drivers to reduce the risk of another collision?