Startling fact: It took almost $7 billion–and possibly more–to treat gunshot victims over nine years (read Gunshot Wounds Cost U.S. Hospitals Nearly $7 Billion Over 9 Years).
See also the Stanford study “Gun injuries cost Americans $730 million a year in hospital bills.” A related startling fact.
Translate the money into number of lives affected and that’s not just startling, it’s a national crisis.
And it begs the question, How much value do we put on human life?
Here’s an odd “Week” (I haven’t told you about one in a long while): Stop on Red Week, Aug. 8-13, 2016. It’s a week declared by The National Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR). All of us, whether in a car, on a bike, or on foot, are reminded to stop at red lights. Common sense, right?
Of course. So why don’t we do it? Look at the statistics for 2014. Some 709 people were killed and another 126,000 injured because somebody ran a red light. I understand that we all lead busy lives, but too busy to spend a few minutes of our day stopped at a light so someone can cross the street, or too interested in biking to our destination that we sail through (or cut into the crosswalk and pretend to be a pedestrian), or so daring that we dash across the street, thinking we can slip between traffic?
Anyway, at first I thought the idea of this Week was funny, as though we should do it for a week then go back to ignoring red lights the rest of the time. Now, though, I see it as a great idea, but one that should be stretched out to 52 weeks every year.
Here’s an idea–when you see red, stop. Be safe out there, please, Readers.