The companion article on how to avoid dying in a car crash is worth a look. It's common sense to pay attention, be sober, and avoid bad weather. But it is helpful to know how much these factors come into play, and how much avoiding risk factors can help. • 75% of all crashes involve wet pavement. • The fatality rate per mile of nighttime travel is about three times as high as during daytime hours. • Alcohol and seat belts were considered too obvious to quantify, unfortunately. I have high hopes for self-driving cars to reduce the awful toll of crashes. Whenever I drive, I can't imagine an automated system handling construction zones with confusing temporary lane markings and irregular surfaces, but those conditions are difficult for human drivers too and the robot only has to be better than humans, not perfect.