[ChuckMcM]

I came here looking for this comment, I was not disappointed :-)

The headline is hyperbole, but it is common hyperbole. Factories pumping out pollutants are "murdering" our people, Cigarette manufacturers are "murdering" their customers, Etc.

The interesting point in the story is how we went from 'cars need to look out for people' to 'people need to look out for cars' in a relatively short time frame. The discussion of the various articles and points of view and how they gained favor over time is similar to things like Nuclear power which went from 'power to cheap to measure' to 'tool of the devil', or gun ownership, or Television ownership, or any number of things that have impacted the community at large.

The thing to remember for this community is that these are emotional arguments presented as rational arguments. Hence the term 'murder' which evokes the desired emotion (outrage) rather than 'dangerous' which evokes a statistical mindset of potential harm.

[Dylan16807]

Intentionally releasing poisons is a hell of a lot closer to murder than performing an activity with risks (aka any activity). Factories are a poor leading point, because I could see a world where they are required to capture toxins to the point that only uncommon accidents release non-negligible amounts. But driving would still be okay in comparison.