In spite of all the airbags and safety devices in today's cars, U.S. traffic deaths hit a 15-year high in 2005. Why am I not surprised? Because American and Canadian drivers, as a group, are among the world's worst. I was reminded of this when viewing a webcam video from India. In a high shot it revealed cars, scooters, busses and various other vehicles converging on a 4-way intersection with no stop signs or traffic lights. In what appeared to be lawless pandemonium, everyone took their own line and miraculously, all got through. I'm not suggesting India has a low accident rate but there's a reason why these folks survive the daily wreck 'em race. They're paying attention! They're concentrating on driving! Whereas our drivers are busy on cellphones, slurping coffee from "must have" cupholders, slamming their stereos to max db's, and otherwise depending on technology to keep them safe. It all goes back to our lousy driver training, and to law enforcement that concentrates on speeding and ignores what really matters, and because of a judiciary system that fails to support the police when they nail the true offenders. Photo © Columbia.Edu