As has been widely reported, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department voted to increase speed limits on several stretches of roadway around the Natural State. While this will likely be regarded as a boon to those who regularly traverse these highways, a little cautious reflection is in order.
Just like Will Ferrell’s character, Ricky Bobby, in Talladega Nights, many of us just “wanna go fast,” but to paraphrase a common admonition, with great speed, comes great responsibility. No, this isn’t a call for one more “nanny state” overseer. Rather, it is a clarion for some considered reflection before trying to set the Pine Bluff-to-Dumas land speed record.
According to researchers at the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, “Over thirty percent of all fatal crashes are estimated to be speeding-related crashes, defined as racing, exceeding the speed limit, or driving too fast for conditions.” Moreover, they state, “Speeding-related crashes resulted in 13,040 lives lost in 2007 and an estimated cost of $40.4 billion in 2000.”
If ever there was just cause to ease off the pedal, these grim statistics give it. While each new model year brings additional safety features to automobiles, these measures are not carte blanche for excess. Anyone over about 30 years old may recall a time when seatbelts didn’t necessarily have an integrated shoulder strap, when airbags didn’t exist and computerized traction control was a distant fantasy. If you’re just a little older than that, you might remember when seatbelts were the thing you rolled up and stuck between the seat cushions. Dashboards were all steel and the windshield wasn’t safety glass.
Despite the wealth of safety features that come with even the most bare-bones new car, many people go to great lengths to defeat them. According to a peer-reviewed study in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, safe driving habits (seatbelt use in particular) were strongly tied to age, race, gender and income. Using data obtained from individuals admitted to trauma centers after an automobile crash, researchers found the following breakdown for seatbelt use: 45 percent for persons under age of 25 years, 52 percent of those 25–60 years, and 68 percent of those over 60 years; Overall, seatbelt use was reported for 45 percent of men and 63 percent of women; as well as for 56 percent of Caucasians and 34 percent of African Americans. In addition, seatbelt use was reported for 33 percent of those earning less than $20,000 per year and 55 percent of those earning over $20,000. Analysis revealed that age, being female, being Caucasian, greater income, and whether the person was the driver were all significant predictors of reported seatbelt use. These results show that seatbelt use was more likely for older persons, women, Caucasians, individuals with greater incomes, and drivers. The study showed that there was a particularly low level of seatbelt use among younger African-American males — especially those with lower income levels.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Given the relatively high proportion of young African-American men in the population of Southeast Arkansas, this suggests that law enforcement agencies and other organizations interested in bolstering community safety need to be more proactive in encouraging seatbelt use — especially among younger African American males.
Richard Iton, an African American studies professor at Northwestern University, suggests that members of the younger African American male underclass may deliberately flout safety as a means to gain social status. Iton contends that these young men may attempt to display, or assert, what status is available to them or that they can acquire by exhibition of some desired or unique trait, whether it be fashionable clothing, expensive cars or jewelry, socially transgressive, daring, or illegal behavior, or a combination of all three.
Understanding this set of demographic focal concerns is key to addressing a problem that disproportionately affects a certain segment of the community. As that particular issue is sorted out, broader society should simultaneously be prompted to take stock of its own driving habits.