Ad Nauseam

Think transit commuters are unwashed, uncouth bums? Subaru does. And the carmaker doesn't mind telling them so.

If you tuned in to the news earlier this week, you likely heard that in 2011 U.S. road fatalities dropped to their lowest level since 1949. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the media practically consider it cause for celebration that *just* 32,000 or so people were killed in motor vehicle crashes last year. Maybe that's understandable. In the last six decades, since the time before seat belts and padded dashboards were standard equipment, it's the best we've been able to manage.

SF editor's note: The California Highway Patrol coincidentally launched a campaign this week against drowsy driving, which it says "caused more than 3,600 collisions, 32 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries in California in 2010," according to the Mercury News.