14 DAY TRIAL // Although there's some subtle irony in looking at a gorgeous car smashed into a tree and it kind of makes you sit back and wonder what the point of owning a nice car is, if you know that about one of three people in traffic will be injured or killed in a car accident (and at this point, you start counting the members of your family who haven't had any car crashes yet), such a nasty event is nothing to be trifled with.
Some might see Google leaving in those pictures of accidents that their Street View cars have captured as a sort of metaphor and a warning for everyone to see and learn from. I just think it's bulk indexing, but that's a different matter. What primes is that the images are there for all to see and that they're not pretty too look at (except for the one with the Mercedes Benz that hit a tree and which brings me back to the feeling described in the first paragraph).
According to car-accidents.com, 2005 had nigh 6.5 million car crashes in the United States alone. Check the total number of cars registered there and the percentage you'll find is not one that you'll like. I guess it's not just the Italians that drive awfully, in between lanes and not caring for the others in traffic, it's the people in the US as well. Nevertheless, Italians have the bad rep and no one can come close to it. For now.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles says that "Most drivers, no matter how carefully they drive, will be involved in at least one traffic accident during their lifetime. Your chances of being injured or killed in a traffic accident are greater than you might think." So look at the pictures, check Google Maps' Street View and think again when you're handling the steering wheel.