Electric Cars For Dummies

Chapter 3

Electric Vehicles and a Safer Drive

IN THIS CHAPTER

Examining safety features (and statistics) for electric vehicles

Exploring the possibility of a vehicle fire (ICE vs. EV)

Owning a car that improves over time

What’s the most dangerous thing you do every day?

Drive your vehicle.

The amount of death and destruction that occurs on the world’s highways and byways is nothing short of a public health crisis. In fact, the numbers tell us that auto crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 1 and 54 in the United States. (Source: https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/global-road-safety/index.html.)

Looking beyond my home soil doesn’t make for a better view. The World Health Organization (WHO) tracks auto accidents as being responsible for 1.3 million deaths every year, more than the global total for murders and suicides combined. And, if you’re thinking that this figure is also closely tied to matters of race and class, you’re not wrong. Globally, more than 50 percent of fatalities are pedestrians, bikers, and motorcyclists rather than car drivers and passengers, who tend to be wealthier. About 93 percent of road deaths occur in low- and middle-income ...