- It's been a year since COVID-19 came. According to who figures, 1.360,000 people have died in the year and more than 57 million have been infected, many of them recovering. According to the same organization, more than 1.350,000 people die each year from accidents and more than 50 million people suffer disabilities that may not improve... What have we done and what are we doing to prevent deaths from accidents that can be in our control?! Is it harder to fasten seat belts than wearing masks?
Worldwide there is a ill-informed resistance to wearing seat belts and seat belt laws just as there has been an ill-informed resistance in many countries to wearing a mask.
It is due to a failure of our education systems to help people critically think and evaluate and realize the important scientific reasons behind the need to wear a seat belt and/or a mask.
It all comes down to consideration of our fellow human beings:
- In car crashes, you only hurt yourself by not wearing a seat belt.
- However you may waste time and space at local hospitals since injuries can occur at much lower speeds without the use of the seat belt.
- In pandemics, like COVID, you risk the lives of MANY others by selfishly not wearing a mask and physically/socially distancing.
- Sure THE INDIVIDUAL may not die from COVID however THE INDIVIDUAL May carry the virus and infect others.
And if infected THE INDIVIDUAL wastes important time and space at the local hospital. Should folks who refuse to wear masks have to sign a waiver to refuse treatment at hospitals? And what about others THEY infect?
- Sure THE INDIVIDUAL may not die from COVID however THE INDIVIDUAL May carry the virus and infect others.
NOTE: comparing car crashes to COVID is not appropriate.
- The death rate per million miles traveled for car crashes has been going down (in most countries) and is exponentially less than the death rate per infection for COVID
(and note that COVID is 5-10 times higher death rate than the death rate for FLU although many try to compare the two)
- Are Car Crash Deaths Increasing During COVID Lockdown?
These links includes comparison of changes in annual deaths for many countries: