[dspillett]

Statistics are like bikinis: they show a lot but what they can hide is significant too.

Fatalities overall have fallen and continue to fall, largely due to increased use of seatbelts, other safety features in cars improving and being more commonly available. Also in many areas the overcrowding of roads is making fatalities drop: if you can't get up to any sort of speed then and collisions you experience will be less likely to be fatal!

But accidents due to being distracted by technology (and therefor the number of fatalities as a proportion of that) are, according to a number of studies, on the increase.

[hjmcnew]

Perhaps it is the pedant in me, but the parent didn't qualify by saying the number of fatalities due to distracted driving. There was only the blanket statement of an increase in the number of fatalities.

While I don't doubt you are correct that the proportion of fatalities due to distracted driving is increasing, I'd still like to see a link or two to the studies you cited.

[dspillett]

> I'd still like to see a link or two to the studies you cited.

Unfortunately I don't have such handy, though if I remember when I next have time I'll try hunt out a reference.

If you want clues to try hunt them down yourself: they will be things I've read about in New Scientist (dead tree publication), probably in sidebars to recent articles on advances in automated vehicles.