Cars still kill more Americans than Guns--and probably will for the foreseeable future - Autoblog

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

Motor vehicle deaths still exceed firearm deaths, according to the CDC's annual Mortality In The United States report. Not by much. But considering experts have long projected a moment when trends of lower car deaths and higher gun deaths intersect for the first time in US history, it's important to note they haven't actually crossed yet.

There were 33,736 traffic deaths and 33,599 total firearm deaths in 2014, the latest year for which full data is available – a difference of 137 deaths. A small gap, but significant nonetheless given how the symbolic convergence of the two has become a talking point swept up in the national conversation on gun violence, a debate that has taken on new urgency in light of President Obama's executive actions taken on Tuesday. . . .

That's not what you'd expect, of course. Traffic deaths get scant attention, usually relegated to the inside pages of a local newspaper unless they're particularly unusual. But our narrow focus on how people die has led us astray from the sheer number of people dying via one method or the other, and as such, distorted our perception and response to the threats. . . .

Gun violence is a scourge that merits much attention and debate, but when watching the nightly news, remember that car crashes and overdoses are just as tragic, if less heralded, killers.

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Cars still kill more Americans than Guns--and probably will for the foreseeable future - Autoblog