It's the old debate about the 'nanny state'. How many people would ignore safety advice if it was not enforced?
BTW The US road death rate is four times that of the UK per 100,000 people. Others are far worse.
!BEER
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Per 100,000 people but how does that translate per driving hour? In other words, I'm willing to bet that the average American spends a lot more time driving than the average person in the U.K. More time driving equates to more opportunities for accidents. I could be wrong but it would make sense. The U.S. is more spread out, public transportation isn't as widely used, etc.
In any case, I forgot what the point was. Does the U.K have stricter safety laws? I mean here in the U.S. we have laws against driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, laws against speeding, laws requiring seatbelts, laws requiring air bags (and numerous other safety features), laws requiring car seats for kids...the list goes on and on and on. Not sure how much more strict they could (un)reasonably be. Execute you for speeding maybe?
My point is, I should be able to ignore safety advice if I want (at least if we are talking about my own safety). Most of these laws aren't motivated by a concern for safety, they are motivated by a concern for revenue. Red light cameras are a perfect example. If I misjudge a traffic light and drive through a red light an eighth of a second after it turns red I've literally endangered no one. Still, I'll get that $200 fine (or whatever it is). I got a ticket for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign once. There was no point for this particular stop sign as it was at an intersection of a dead end road. For someone to hit me they would literally have to be running off of the road. Didn't stop me from getting a $180 ticket though. Not a safety issue unless we are talking about the safety of the positive bank account balance of the local city police department/government.