As Moynihan notes, the social life of most Americans “now primarily takes the form of driving to a place where alcohol is consumed”. And because traffic laws are widely ignored, almost everyone is a lawbreaker, and the incident of arrest in America may be the highest of any nation in history. Repairing and replacing wrecked cars may provide 20 percent of business for the automobile industry, the nation‘s most important.

Such statistics are as lifeless as the woman who lay beneath blankets on the Connecticut Avenue median strip. But they describe a river of sorrow flowing monstrously irrational behaviour.

Most drivers frequently exceed speed limits; only 25 percent use seatbelts; only 4 percent use harnesses. Because slaughter behind the wheel is deeply rooted in aggression and other irrationality, it is very difficult to substantially reduce accidents by reforming drivers. So government has tried to reduce the severity of injuries received in accidents.

The public disliked, and the government quickly disconnected, the ignition “interlock” system that prevented cars from starting when safety belts were unfastened. Today, new cars just make a brief buzz of disapproval.

Government may yet require “passive restraints“---air bags that instantly inflate to cushion passengers in collisions. There is evidence that they would save many thousands of lives annually and may be one answer to what Moynihan has called “the seeming incompatibility of safe driving and mass driving “. That is a considerable problem in a nation where more people drive than pay taxes or vote.

Air bags require no forethought by drivers, so they are suited to the American driving public. The air bags would probably cost manufacturers less than $100, a fraction of what car buyers exuberantly spend when loading their cars with snappy wheel covers and other options.