A Rhetorical Analysis Of Road Kill By Gregg Easterbrook

Gregg Easterbrook, a fellow of the Brookings Institution and LA Times contributor, argues in his article, “Road Kill,” that deaths on the highway roads in America is a large and ignored problem. Easterbrook argues that the cause of the deaths can be linked to horsepower and cell phone usage. The author also writes the problem is ignored, because of moral differences and the feeling that the crashes can’t be prevented. Easterbrook also writes that the fatalities are not just limited to the drivers on the road. The author writes about the increased number of fatalities of pedestrians when crossing the streets, which further adds to the argument that the problem needs to be adressed and not ignored like it currently is (1-2). Easterbrook explains why the program of road fatalities is being ignored by society (1). According to Gregg Easterbrook’s article, “Road Kill”, he writes that “the first fundamental difference between harm because of accidents and harm because of deliberate action; the second, society’s strange assumption that traffic fatalities cannot be avoided” (1). He writes that, because, unlike terrorism, car crashes were planned to cause harm. Easterbrook writes that

He argues that while talking and driving is illegal in some states, the chances of being caught are minimal, so drivers do it anyway. Easterbrook writes that traffic cameras could take pictures of people on their phones to help stop the problem (2). According to Easterbrook’s article, “Road Kill”, he writes that higher horsepower in cars makes the car “easy to lose control of, especially for young drivers” (2). He writes that higher horsepowered cars led to more dangerous driving and points the connection between road rage and higher horsepower. Finally, Easterbrook argues that higher horsepower is not even needed, since it leads to decreases fuel efficiency