Narrow Escape

[Fringe Ryder]

Warning: Gross generalizations follow.  (Although not nearly as gross as 
the source poster's)

Colin, I've been around a chunk of Europe in the last year.  In answer to 
your (somewhat prejudiced) question...

Yes, things are a LOT safer in the U.S.  You Europeans run roads like you 
run your economies.  U.S. roads are a LOT wider, a LOT straighter, and of 
course don't forget normal drives through huge distances in essentially 
unpopulated areas.  We also have the benefit of a recent start, while most 
European buildings I saw/stayed in were much older than the automobile, but 
even if Europeans could do it over, they wouldn't do it much differently 
because the concept of "independence" is subjugated to the concept of 
"society", whereas here it's the opposite.  (This applies to guns, taxes, 
medical care, and much more, not just cars and freeways.)

And yes, things are a LOT safer in the U.S., because inside the cities, you 
can't get up enough speed to do any damage at all.

And yes, U.S. drivers are often selfish and dumb... but so are Italian 
drivers, French drivers, and British drivers.  (I haven't been to 
germany.)  U.S. drivers come a lot closer to paying attention to the laws, 
minor things like stop lights, stop signs, lane markers, yield 
requirements, etc.  French and Italian drivers may not even bother looking 
towards the road, if they're in an interesting conversation with a 
passenger.  In London even more than in the States, you can't get enough 
speed to do any damage, but people park for "just a few" right in the 
middle of the street!  (Also not much fear of carjackings here, a big 
problem in London currently.)

Drivers adapt to the conditions around them.  This list is composed of 
enthusiasts who probably pay a lot more attention than the average, but the 
average everywhere just pays enough to get by.  How stupid you look is 
entirely determined by which cultural metric you're measured against.