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Comment by tomjen2 | Hacker News Reader

This is a very valid point and raised very well. It does not deserve these downmods.

Don't forget that in the 1950's it was socially acceptable to tank up on a few highballs, take one for the road, and get on your merry way.

There has been so much more safety education in the last 30 years. It's bound to have rubbed off a bit.

why? this feels like a red herring fallacy.

we're talking about the technology and quality of the cars across time as it relates to safety.

you pull in people as drivers and it fundamentally changes what we're talking about. more examples:

"I think it's unfair to compare cars from 50 years ago against cars today without comparing the state of modern traffic laws and speed limits"

"I think it's unfair to compare cars from 50 years ago against cars today without comparing the quality and ubiquity of roads, highways and interstates"

etc.

My general point was that although cars are safer than before, we still need to look at the system they are a part of which affects safety. I don't want people to make the conclusion that it's safer driving now than before - that may or may not be the case.

Well... it is:

http://www.roadandtravel.com/safetyandsecurity/highwayfatali...

Note that nationwide statistics are not available that far back, but consider this report from Washington State:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/planning/wtp/datalibrary/Safety/MVFa...

But that hasn't necessarily come from car safety although I'm sure that's a large contributor.

It can also be attributed to better education, more cracking down on drunk drivers, etc.

I think it's unfair to compare cars from 50 years ago against cars today without comparing the behavior of the drivers, improvement of safety education, improved laws, better police enforcement, etc..

see what i did there? ;)

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