Photo: Author: Alexas_Fotos / pixabay.com. Source
Over the last year I’ve heard a lot of arguments over mandates for vaccines or mask wearing. One of the most popular and often used uses car safety as an example. And it’s a great analogy, the rules, guidelines and laws around driving are in place to keep drivers, passengers, other road users and pedestrians safe.
Sure, they can be a little annoying, you have to take a couple of extra steps like wearing a seat belt, taking a test, making sure that your car is safe enough to be on the road, and check your speed. But do you know what? If we look at the numbers before the big push on road safety through the 70s and today we have 19.6% of the deaths that we had in 1970 and the total number of reported injuries is 32.4% of its 1970 value.
“And!?!” Yes, I hear the exasperated cries. What’s the point of all this? Why does it matter? Ethan, have you finally snapped? No. I want to look at what successive governments did to get these numbers down, and why I now consider our current Government to be Mass Murderers. But first, lets look at the numbers:
1970 Deaths by Car – 7,499 (20.6/day)
1970 Injuries by Car – 356,000 (978/day)
2021 Deaths by Covid – 165/day
2021 Infections by Covid – 39,006/day
EIGHT TIMES AS MANY PEOPLE ARE DYING PER DAY OF COVID THAN DIED OF CAR CRASHES IN 1970!!!
AND TEN TIMES AS MANY PEOPLE ARE BEING INFECTED AS SUFFERED INJURIES BACK THEN…
I’m sorry for shouting, but no one else seems to be. The news channels are reporting them as a matter of fact, as if nothing can be done. Sky News do a quick round up of the numbers each day when they’re released and then compare them to the worst day we’ve had in the pandemic so far. Not “this time last year” but the very worst day we had.
Then there’s our new Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, who said that we just have to learn to live with the virus. But as we’re seeing, 165 people per day AREN’T living. Even the publicly funded unofficial Number 10 Press Office (BBC News) are discussing this approach.
But let’s do some comparisons and equate the steps previous governments took to make it possible for us to live with the car with the steps that sensible countries that have some sort of grip on their outbreak. The three main ways for controlling the virus are Hands, Face, Space.
The three main ways to control car safety are cut out Drink Drivers, Wear a Seatbelt, Control Your Speed, which I think equate quite well with the Hands, Face, Space messaging.
(Image by UK Government, Source.)
Imagine if we didn’t have driving tests and licences, then the government found out that it reduced accidents and that the people who take a driving test are more likely to survive an accident. So they bring in the driving licence on a voluntary basis. Learn the rules if you like, take the test if you want, get your government issued piece of paper to prove it. But at the same time they say “You don’t have to worry about your alcohol intake, Seatbelt or speed. That is unless you want to. We’ll leave it up to you.
What’s going to happen to the car accident figures? Exactly.
But this is in effect what our government are saying. Take the vaccine if you want, it’ll make you less likely to get Covid, and even if you do, you’ll be more likely to survive. Social distancing and Mask wearing are optional, we trust you. And that lackadaisical reaction along with the atrocious press coverage lulls the country into a false sense of security. If you consciously decide not to implement public safety measures then you’re murdering your citizens by omission.
Car fatalities and vehicle safety in general only reduce when you implement ALL of the ways to make it safer. The virus is no different. We need to reintroduce Mask Mandates, Social Distancing and have a Mandatory Vaccine if we really want to live with the virus.
Epilogue
I decided that I wanted to see just how far I could push the comparison and even figured out a way to include Lockdowns! (I’m pretty pleased with myself for this…) Pedestrianisation Zones. When pedestrianisation zones come in local businesses see a drop in footfall and revenue (like in Ennis, Ireland, Islington, London and Bogota, Columbia). Large shopping and business areas are more likely to survive, but it’ll hit the small local shops first. Just like Lockdowns!
Proud Ankylosaur 