Top Killer of U.S. Travelers

[DandyDon]

Buckle up and stay off of scooters

by Fran Golden, News Editor of AOL Travel

Travelers may fear terrorism, plane crashes and crime, but the top killer of Americans traveling abroad is road accidents.

According to a USA Today analysis of data from the State Department, about 1,820 healthy Americans were reported killed in road accidents in foreign countries between Jan. 1, 2003 and June 2010. That's nearly a third of all Americans who died of non-natural causes while abroad.

On average, one American traveler dies on a foreign road every 36 hours, the newspaper says.

Of the deaths, almost 40% happened in Mexico. The second highest number of road fatalities occurred in Thailand, followed by the Dominican Republic, Germany and Spain.

The newspaper says Make Roads Safe, a non-profit group promoting global road safety, estimates that worldwide 25,000 travelers to foreign countries are killed in road accidents each year. The group blames a "lethal cocktail of killer roads, unsafe vehicles, dangerous driving and disoriented travelers."

The number of fatalities could increase to 45,000 by 2020 and 75,000 by 2030, as tourist numbers rise, the group warns.

From Road Accidents Top Killer of U.S. Travelers - AOL Travel News

 

[Thalassamania]

And I thought is was CO exhaust from scooters.

 

[Scott L]

I was thinking Godzilla...

 

[greylion]

Donorcycles, with inexperienced riders on bad roads, it's a lethal cocktail.

 

[DandyDon]

Second poster has the best chance to ruin a thread.

 

[DeputyDan]

Donorcycles, with inexperienced riders on bad roads, it's a lethal cocktail.

I agree 100% plus some.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

Funny how you read that and focus only on scooters. I can almost guarantee that the 4th highest of Germany and Spain involve no such vehicles. I would like the breakdown of types of vehicles before I make this a stay off scooters thread.
I have been all over this planet and watched the majority of tourists rent cars. Most countries have road systems that are dodgy at best, and the driving is insane. Americans are not usually prepared for the cut-throat driving practiced in most of the world, and we get in trouble driving in it.
But to make this only scooter related, is skewing the article badly. That may ruin the thread, not Scott. His was just a funny statement.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I was thinking Godzilla...

Only in Japan......shhhh

 

[DandyDon]

Scott was not the second poster.

I did open with my suggestion of "Buckle up" as well "stay off of scooters." There's certainly a lot more about automobile risks that not wearing safety belts, and there are experienced motorcycle operators who are probly much safer than than the typical tourist renter, altho I wonder how many of them fly with their own helmets?

The story mentioned that 40% or US traveler deaths happen in Mexico, and I suspect that's mostly because of the high ratio of Mexican trips & cruises.

Driving in Ireland, on the left, in the dark, after the pub closed was possibly my worst, but that can happen in the Bahamas pr even USVIs as well. At least when I drove in the Bahamas once they rented me a car with steering on the right side; I think they use US cars now. The did when I visited the USVIs once in '88; I aimed for the edge of the road.

 

[Tanked]

I was thinking Godzilla...

Only in Japan......shhhh

Dee I think he meant when Godzilla is a tourist and rents a scooter. That's when he becomes dangerous.