Grim Reaper falling on hard times

[alex ballard]

Maybe it's the water. Maybe it's a new faith in god. Maybe we're stting on the fountain of youth. But whatever the reason may be, NYC in many ways is giving death the slip. Everything from homicide, auto accidents, fires, AIDS, and even pet euthnasia has been dropping. Does anyone here have some interesting theroies on why death seems to be taking a vacation in the five boroughs?

[fioco]

Perhaps the Grim Reaper is on a working vacation, getting tips from the Tax Man!

[Merry]

Reduced smoking opportunities in New York is hopefully contributing.

[TLOZ Link5]

In cases of violent deaths like homicides or traffic fatalities, there's one factor that I've noticed hasn't been acknowledged on these forums yet: the improvement in medical care over the years. Doctors and surgeons can easily treat a wound today that would have been considered fatal just a few decades ago. Note that assaults (this includes attempted murders that were prevented through self-defense or through the life-saving skills of medical professionals) have not declined to the same extent that murders have, both nationwide and citywide. Some criminologists theorize that, because of this, the barometer of crime statistics is no longer the murder rate, but the assault rate.

[Schadenfrau]

TLOZ is absolutely correct.

Speaking of the smoking ban, I'd give an eye tooth to see Bloomberg produce the 2,000 restaurant employees whose lives have been "saved" thanks to the ban.

[ZippyTheChimp]

They're the pointy ones, right?

Are you a vegetarian?

[Schadenfrau]

I'm actually a voracious meat-eater; that's how confident I am.