If we want to end highway death and injuries, every injury should be held to account.
Compliance
sovereign immunity
11,200
Accountability
liable for every injury
3.7
| System | Liable for Every Injury? | Safety Record |
|---|---|---|
| DOT-managed roads | No — sovereign immunity | 11,200 injuries per million. 40,000+ killed/yr. |
| Theme parks (ASTM F24) | Yes | 3.7 injuries per million |
| Morgantown PRT | Yes | 0 serious injuries in 54 years |
| Wuppertal Schwebebahn | Yes | 1 fatal crash in 125 years — 8M+ DM in costs, criminal sentences |
The only variable is whether every injury is a fiscal risk — same physics.
Complying with checklists they wrote, government officials claim sovereign immunity for the deaths and injuries that result from their outcomes. No fiscal consequence means no incentive to improve. Year after year, the same death and injury rates.
Theme parks are liable for every injury. Every injury can face a jury. So they design for the worst case — a child doing something childish — and they innovate continuously because prevention is cheaper than litigation.
Make every injury a fiscal risk, and operators will act to reduce injuries. Make yourselves financially accountable: roadkills and injuries will drop 60–80% in 3–5 years.