Definitely not. Very few people die of traffic accidents, and that number has been sinking steadily since 1970. (1950: 595, 1960: 1036, 1970: 1307, 1980: 848, 1990: 772, 2000: 591, 2010: 266)
Increased car usage may also mean more air pollution and a more sedentary lifestyle.
If we shifted from walking (or biking or horseback riding, though seems less likely) then I'd expect heart disease to be much more of an issue.
The shift is from from buses and trains, heart disease is likely less of an issue, but air pollution still could be. We've also cleaned up our exhaust a lot over the years, which may offset that a lot.
I do think the other poster's comment about lower birth rates meaning an older population would likely be a much bigger contributor.
lkbm|5 years ago
If we shifted from walking (or biking or horseback riding, though seems less likely) then I'd expect heart disease to be much more of an issue.
The shift is from from buses and trains, heart disease is likely less of an issue, but air pollution still could be. We've also cleaned up our exhaust a lot over the years, which may offset that a lot.
I do think the other poster's comment about lower birth rates meaning an older population would likely be a much bigger contributor.