Photo via Disgrasian
by Hatt-Me Kim
When Karl Benz invented the first actual gasoline-powered automobile back in the late 1800s, no one could have predicted the deleterious effects it would have on the honor of Asian drivers worldwide.
However, using number-crunching tactics (another Asian stereotype), Bradd Libby, a Ph.D degree-holding blogger, attempted to debunk the negative stereotype utilizing Gapminder’s data. Based in Sweden, Gapminder showcases “boring statistics … in visually stimulating ways” in order to help people make sense of the world.
Using mostly 2007 figures from the organization’s “traffic deaths per 100,000 population chart,” Libby highlights 11 Asian countries on his graph. (North Korea and Thailand were omitted due to lack of information and Brunei because of its small population).
Countries above the bold line have more traffic deaths than their peers, while those below the line have fewer. Seven of the Asian countries considered had traffic death rates that were lower than the average and only four (Laos, the Phillipines, Mongolia, and Malaysia) had averages that were higher. To their benefit, the Asian countries that were below average in traffic fatalities include the most populous ones: China, Japan and Indonesia. That is, Asian people are good drivers.
Way to go South Korea, for making it on the bottom half of the graph, and even with some leg room to spare.
