Apparently, when traffic fatalities get excluded from the figures, the US has the highest life expectancy in the world.
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/08/25/violence-traffic-accidents-and-us-life-expectancy/
When you factor in accidents and homicides, we are like 40th in life expectancy.
Wow. I find this this hard to believe. I mean yeah, I have read that our auto accident and murder rates were higher than most developed countries'. Furthermore, our suicide and alcohol consumption levels don't put us the top ten, but aren't low either. But I would have thought it's our eating habits that really take points off our national life expectancy.
So why are there so many traffic deaths in the US? People drive drunk in every country.
I think you'll find that in person-miles (or kilometres, if you fancy it), the US is much higher than most other countries with comparable rates of alcohol consumption. I've lived and traveled in a bunch of other countries, and I'll drive anywhere. But I have
never felt the need to get behind a wheel anywhere as often as when I've been in the US, or go nearly as long distances. Urban planning and socioeconomic factors have favored this wasteful driving-heavy lifestyle in the US, as opposed to most countries with big populations, where most people are concentrated in urban centers with ample and well-maintained public transit, and plenty to do and see within a reasonable walk or bike ride for most folks.
No, I really don't think you'll find drunk driving is nearly the same level of problem for most of the world's people. First of all, let's not forget that only half of all the world's adults ever drink alcohol, and a lot of the ones who do don't do it all that much or all that frequently. But even among those who abuse alcohol, a large number live in places where they don't need a car to get to places to drink. Drunk driving is a pretty heavily punished crime is most countries (as it should be), especially when property gets damaged or innocent people are hurt, and it's not hard for any experienced cop to spot a driver who's drunk to the point of motor and judgment deficits. IME there are a lot of countries where it's common sense to the common people to never attract the attention of law enforcement, for any reason. A lot of places have traffic that's so congested and slow, on roads that are so poorly maintained, that accidents are just not as common, and typically less deadly when they occur. For its volume, US traffic moves surprisingly fast.
Statistics show that a generation or two ago, the US was a harder-drinking country than it is today. Many people would chalk this up to greater awareness about the dangers of drunk driving. But I think this greater awareness was spurred by the simple presence of more people driving more miles after the Great White Flight, urban deindustrialization, and suburban sprawl in the 70s. People who like alcohol just drink less of it less often now, because there are fewer times when they won't have to soon drive a fair distance, probably on a well-trafficked and fast moving road.
I've noticed that one social setting in the US where heavy boozing is tolerated -- traditional 4-year undergraduate college -- is typically a setting of high population concentrations, and either ample bus transportation or places to drink a walk away. Fewer and fewer Americans are doing college this way anymore, which probably also helps drive down overall alcohol consumption rates. But even so, [the minority of] thriving walkable urban centers that cater to young hip professionals all have a thriving boozing culture for those who are into this.