Quote:
Originally Posted by robh
The US is still double Brazil for road fatalities in raw numbers and about the same for deaths per 100k.
I grew up driving on potholed roads in the countryside which were one and a half car widths wide, so to me the less well travelled roads in Brazil aren't that bad at all, but I concur, stick to the well travelled roads and drive in the daytime if possible.
If you want a real experience driving try countries where they don't keep stats! Egypt is a great one to test your wits, drivers drive without their headlights on at night so when they flash you with their high beams it has a greater effect!!
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No...the U.S. doesn't even come close to the number on a per capita basis. One has to take the population of cars into consideration when making these comparisons, not people.
Brazil had in 2001 6.8 deaths per 10,000 vehicles....the U.S. had 1.93 per 10,000 vehicles. That's nearly 3.5 X more dangerous. It's not even close robh. And I can tell you from spending 32 years in the states, and the last 10 here in Brazil, it is a difference that I, and anyone with knowledge of both countries, doesn't need stats to know, although they're certainly there to be obtained. The link I will post below was a study where it talks about the gross underestimate of deaths on brazilian roads due to traffic accidents.
http://www.iatss.or.jp/english/resea...df/29-2-09.pdf
Quote:
2. DISCREPANCY IN STATISTICAL DATA
The discrepancy found in the data regarding traffic
accidents disclosed by several sources has made clear the
need for a new and more up to date data base, that relays
a more reliable portrait of the country.
Official statistics show that the occurrence of deaths by traffic accidents is underestimated, due to the fact
that only the victims at the scene of the accident are
taken into consideration. Thus, in 2001 the National Department
of Traffic - DENATRAN, an agency of the Ministry
of Cities, registered 18,877 deaths in road accidents
(see Table 1).
The statistics from the Ministry of Health registered
at the same period 30,537 deaths caused by traffic accidents.
However, according to information provided by
FENASEG - The National Federation of Private Insurance
Companies, 36,521 deaths due to traffic accidents
were indemnified using the resources from the compulsory
insurance.
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Once again, relying on gov't. statistics in Brazil for comparison is something that is just now "starting" to become semi-accurate. I cannot think of one Brazilian person that I personally know that has not had a family member, in many cases distant, cousin, uncle, etc, that has not died in an auto accident. That is certainly not my experience in the U.S. Trying to compare the safety conditions of cars, roads, and motorists habits in the two countries couldn't be much more different.