Per 100,000 residents Ireland has 3.5 traffic fatalities , US 11.6 fatalities

There is so much that we can learn from travel.  I felt like I learned more about the United States and its problems while visiting Ireland than while visiting anywhere else.  

While researching safety in Ireland for my Kaufman Green Guide Dublin book, I came across the statistic traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents.  As far as safety goes this is a more important statistic than the stereotypical crime statistics.  So why does Ireland have a rate so much lower than that of the United States.  Here are a few reasons why and what we can learn from Ireland:

1.  Driving on the left:  Countries that drive on the left generally enjoy a much lower rate of traffic fatalities than countries that drive on the right.

2.  Encouraging the use of public transportation, cycling, and walking: Ireland has great public transportation and is working to add more public transportation even in smaller cities and towns.  When it comes to cycling and walking, adding more cyclists and walkers equals an overall decrease in fatalities.

3.  Having less SUVs: SUVs have very high kill rates when compared with cars.  SUVs are also much deadlier to pedestrians due to their flat fronts, inability to avoid collisions, and when two SUVs collide a fatality is 3x more likely to occur than when two cars collide.  Luckily most of the Irish have used common sense when it comes to their car buying choices and choose cars. In the United States we could learn from that choice.

Rachelle Kaufman is the author of Kaufman Green Guides.