Even if we did care, we wouldn’t agree on what to do about it or wouldn’t want to do the things that would make the numbers drop.

We think, for example, that the answers are safer cars, wider roads and laws against texting. What we don’t talk about is that the “safer” we make cars and the wider we make the roads, the more we enable bad behavior and faster driving. And to put it bluntly, speed kills. Don’t even make me bring up the other obvious point, which is that we’ve designed our communities to compel driving for each and every activity of life. Oops – you just made me bring it up.

The truth is, driving is dangerous. It’s the leading cause of death for nearly everyone under 35. It’s probably the most dangerous single thing you do every day. The only truly effective ways to save lives are to make driving optional instead of a mandatory fact of life, to narrow roads so as to slow speeds, provide great public transportation options and enforce strict penalties for bad driving behavior.

But the truth is, we won’t do those things, except in a few “special” places where we’ve deemed it’s acceptable. Even then, it’s very difficult. The gnashing and wailing of teeth when it’s proposed to slow down cars or prioritize walking and biking is something to behold. Those objections are somewhat fewer today than say, ten years ago, but still they dominate.

It’s also not that we don’t have the money or that making the right changes wouldn’t actually work. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Making our world less about driving everywhere quickly is far cheaper than the alternative. It saves us money in the short-term and the long-term, which is kind of a win-win, isn’t it?

So, we can do these things, we can make our cities, towns and countryside safer. We can provide real, meaningful options of how to get around. We have the money; we have the know-how. Now, we just need to care.