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Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

nytimes.com

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Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

#91

Post by c22 »

nilved wrote: post #31
et-al wrote: post #12

As an aside, sometimes I wonder about how much more efficient we are today due to smartphones. Places where we've lost time: - at the stoplight, the driver in front of you is too busy looking down to notice the light has changed - in the bathroom, people check social media on the toilet - on the sidewalk, folks walk slower because they're pre-occupied with texting - meeting up with friends, it's more acceptable to be…

If those people weren't reading news or playing games on the toilet, they would be reading shampoo bottles. In periods of downtime people need something to do and smartphones can make that time more effective (when not used to look at cats.)

But when you're done with the toilet it's easy to put down the shampoo bottle. It's easier still to sit there for another ten minutes on a page like tumblr or Facebook which endlessly scrolls.

Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

#93

Post by miaumiau2 »

ddeck wrote: post #41
miaumiau2 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you are saying, talking to a passenger "causes the same attention impairment level as someone under the influence of alcohol."? For sure there is a distraction, but it is definitely not on the level you described.

>So you are saying, talking to a passenger "causes the same attention impairment level as someone under the influence of alcohol."? That is not what they said at all. They are correct in pointing out that there is a great deal of evidence that conversing on a cell phone (even hands free) while driving is as dangerous as being intoxicated while driving. There have also been studies that investigated why talking hands…

Interesting and valid point, thanks for providing the link!

Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

#94

Post by ptaipale »

hueving wrote: post #78
frakr wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also a bit worrisome that the driver apps only give the driver ~30 seconds to accept a new ride request. The requests almost always come in while they are driving. Drivers are forced to pay attention to their phone and try to figure out if they want to accept the ride, all while driving. It's incredibly distracting and they never have enough time to pull over and safely accept the request. This puts the driver a…

Well the arbitrary response time is driven by users requesting rides. If Uber takes that long to match me with a driver, I assume the app is busted and I switch to Lyft.

Sounds like there is need for some regulation here, because the risks of fast response time to customer are externalized to other people in traffic.

There could be a law that a driver must have at least one full minute to accept a request. That would help this problem, even if one minute is still a short time to pull over and respond.

Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

#95

Post by m_mueller »

apsec112 wrote: post #65

Headline: "Blame Apps" Evidence given in the article: - "Safety experts say" that it's true. The experts are not named or quoted. No evidence or reasoning is given to support the claim. - Highway fatalities are up this year. However, they're still significantly down from 2007, when the iPhone was first introduced. Mobile has been booming for almost a decade - if we should "blame apps", why hasn't it been a concern be…

Also, just look at that graph they posted (can't be linked to because the labels are not included in the png file). Biggest spike in 50 years? More like a minor blip in a steady downwards trend.

Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

#96

Post by rat87 »

ux-app wrote: post #61
m3rc wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't stand touchscreen systems. Instead of a single physical switch to turn AC on or off it's two latency laden taps. Part of it's menu design but I can't help but feel like it's always gonna happen with touchscreen centric designs.

That's poor design. My wife's new car has physical buttons for all the common functions that you might require to use while in motion: - Radio on/off - All radio controls on the wheel - Heating/cooling, physical knobs The touchscreen is treated as an optional, secondary interface, as it rightfully should be.

Just Radio?

I'm assuming people are listening to podcasts/Pandora/spotify/audiobooks just as frequently , not to mention looking at/listening to directions.

And it doesn't even have a siri/google assistant button? I'd consider that vital.

Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

#97

Post by ramblenode »

apsec112 wrote: post #65

Headline: "Blame Apps" Evidence given in the article: - "Safety experts say" that it's true. The experts are not named or quoted. No evidence or reasoning is given to support the claim. - Highway fatalities are up this year. However, they're still significantly down from 2007, when the iPhone was first introduced. Mobile has been booming for almost a decade - if we should "blame apps", why hasn't it been a concern be…

I'm not sure if I've become more cognizant of bad journalism over time or simply hold journalism to a higher standard with the rise of publicly available data sets which could be used for real insight into questions like this. Whichever one, I am infrequently satisfied with the level of evidence that supports an article's conclusion. I would love to see a truly data-driven news publication that made quantifying uncertainty a priority over creating a digestible narrative for people who'd rather the author does the thinking for them.

Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

#98

Post by notauser »

wvenable wrote: post #66
edgyswingset wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My one and only experience using Uber was with a driver who had no clue where anything was, clearly wasn't from around the place, and from what I could tell violated two traffic laws. So what do I do, give him a bad rating? No, because this person probably needed the money, and a rating under 4.5 gets you shitcanned in an already rigged system. Quite the revolution indeed.

Isn't that the point of the rating system? I don't want to be killed by my next Uber ride because you feel bad rating them appropriately. I've never had a bad Uber experience but I have had some downright frightening cab rides and I'd love to be able to rate that.

Agreed. I've given an Uber driver a 1 rating after he jumped a red light and almost hit a cyclist.

If someone drives badly they need a different career and rating them highly regardless just makes sure the feedback system doesn't work.

Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

#99

Post by treehau5 »

ramblenode wrote: post #97
apsec112 wrote: post #65

Headline: "Blame Apps" Evidence given in the article: - "Safety experts say" that it's true. The experts are not named or quoted. No evidence or reasoning is given to support the claim. - Highway fatalities are up this year. However, they're still significantly down from 2007, when the iPhone was first introduced. Mobile has been booming for almost a decade - if we should "blame apps", why hasn't it been a concern be…

I'm not sure if I've become more cognizant of bad journalism over time or simply hold journalism to a higher standard with the rise of publicly available data sets which could be used for real insight into questions like this. Whichever one, I am infrequently satisfied with the level of evidence that supports an article's conclusion. I would love to see a truly data-driven news publication that made quantifying uncer…

Statistics and data are a means, not an end. Narratives and conclusions must be made by people.

That said, I agree a little more data wouldn't hurt.

Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps

#100

Post by habosa »

edgyswingset wrote: post #56
bigethan wrote: post #49

As a cyclist in SF, Uber/Lyft drivers are the most dangerous thing going. They're driving by staring at their phone's map for directions and pickup/dropoff. Once they stop, they stare at their phone for the next ride. Very little situational awareness. It'd be nice if there was some sort of way for them to indicate they drive erratically. Perhaps by painting their cars all yellow or something...

My one and only experience using Uber was with a driver who had no clue where anything was, clearly wasn't from around the place, and from what I could tell violated two traffic laws. So what do I do, give him a bad rating? No, because this person probably needed the money, and a rating under 4.5 gets you shitcanned in an already rigged system. Quite the revolution indeed.

You got downvoted but I somewhat agree with you. I almost never give less than 5 stars unless I think the driver is really endangering people out there.

In any other situation in the world when someone is rude to you as a customer you just shrug it off, maybe you tell your friend "The guy at the shoe store was so mean today". And I know at all of our jobs we have some days where we just half-ass things or are short with people. But suddenly in the "sharing economy" I get to constantly vote whether or not people should keep their jobs. It just seems so unfair to me, like I'm the emperor in Gladiator or something. I would hate to give someone 2 stars, they lose the gig, and now can't make rent or something.

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