Just to respond to a couple of things posted about cars. Ken Avidor quoted the 1998 fatalities related to cars, 41,000+. To put that in perspective, back in 1900, when there were essentially no cars and almost nobody in the country ever journeyed more than 200 miles from home and the population was less than a third of what it is now, 4,200 people were killed by horses. Between 1900 and 1920, 9,000 people a year were killed by trains, with 19,000 in 1919.
It's quite clear that transportation related deaths are way down on a deaths per million passenger miles basis, and probably down on a deaths per capita basis. Annie Young quoted a figure of $24 a day for owning and operating a car. That's $8,760 a year. Only if you buy an expensive new car and trade it in every three years, finance almost all of it, and do other non-thrifty things, could you drive up the cost so far. My car costs about $2,400 a year, keeping it 12-15 years. And of course, people without a lot of money buy a car for around $1,000 and run it until it drops and buy another. The cost of buying lattes at Starbucks drives up the average cost of a cup of coffee, but it doesn't force you to pay that much for a cup unless you want to do so and can do so. Bruce Gaarder Highland Park Saint Paul [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
