This appears to be a false premise, traffic deaths per miles driven shows a rather steady decline according to wikipedia.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths...
Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
201–210 of 255 posts
Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
#202As 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…
> in the bathroom, people check social media on the toilet I've always used the toilet breaks to read actual books or newspapers (except at work, where it would look funny carrying a book with me to the toilet), and I hope I'm not the only one still doing that. Otherwise you make very good points, never thought about it that way.
Agreed, plenty of us were wasting time on the toilet well before the invention of the smart phone.
Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
#203Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's true. I see so many people looking down now at their phones while driving. I'm not sure why it's acceptable now, but it's commonplace. I counted at least 10 drivers on my 12 minute commute yesterday. The scariest one was someone coming in the opposite direction who didn't look up in the 5 seconds I was driving past him. It would have been easy for him to drift into a head on collision.
Oh god... here I go... as a motorcyclist (sorry) this is something that is utterly frightening. I'm out there on the road doing my fu-cking damndest to make sure that I'm driving defensively and predictably, kind of just trying to ensure that I see my wife and twi girls that evening. I'm at standing height next to your window, so I can see right in there while you text and check Facebook whilst piloting a 2 ton machi…
I'm curious where you live and whether it is illegal to use your phone while driving wherever you are.
Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Unfortunately, news today isn't meant to be as accurate as it is meant to be popular. Sure, accuracy will provide stability in the long term. But for immediate popularity, appealing titles are what creates viewers, which is revenue in terms of ads. It's the sad reality of click bait, and it's hard to place blame. Is it the ad network? The"news" outlet? The viewers? Maybe it's all three, but what I do know is that the…
"...But for immediate popularity, appealing titles are what creates viewers, which is revenue in terms of ads.
It's the sad reality of click bait..."
But did you see the Supermoon Monday? It was ginormous!
/s
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/05/02/th...
Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Instead of building regulations around internet services to discourage bad driving, why not just enforce laws on bad driving directly? If a driver is not paying attention while driving, punish them.
Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh god... here I go... as a motorcyclist (sorry) this is something that is utterly frightening. I'm out there on the road doing my fu-cking damndest to make sure that I'm driving defensively and predictably, kind of just trying to ensure that I see my wife and twi girls that evening. I'm at standing height next to your window, so I can see right in there while you text and check Facebook whilst piloting a 2 ton machi…
I'm curious where you live and whether it is illegal to use your phone while driving wherever you are.
Is it legal in any state?
Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's true. I see so many people looking down now at their phones while driving. I'm not sure why it's acceptable now, but it's commonplace. I counted at least 10 drivers on my 12 minute commute yesterday. The scariest one was someone coming in the opposite direction who didn't look up in the 5 seconds I was driving past him. It would have been easy for him to drift into a head on collision.
I'll check my messages at a traffic light, or flick to the next song whilst driving. I don't see any particular danger in these things (apart from possibly angering the poor bugger behind me if I'm slow to notice the lights change). Much like ye olden days of changing a cassette or tuning the radio - there are times and place to pay less attention. People just need to be sensible.
Flicking to the next song whilst driving - if you dont see any particular danger in that it may be worth having a look at this recent event in the UK.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37823457
Family killed by a truck driver doing exactly this, including dashcam footage showing how quickly this happens if you are distracted for even a tiny amount of time. Very scary.
Timing at high speed has a lot to do with it, and lots of things can distract drivers from the road but the margin of error is slim here and so it seems very reasonable to legislate against this.
Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh god... here I go... as a motorcyclist (sorry) this is something that is utterly frightening. I'm out there on the road doing my fu-cking damndest to make sure that I'm driving defensively and predictably, kind of just trying to ensure that I see my wife and twi girls that evening. I'm at standing height next to your window, so I can see right in there while you text and check Facebook whilst piloting a 2 ton machi…
I'm curious where you live and whether it is illegal to use your phone while driving wherever you are.
Not OP. In my state, it is illegal, but we're pansies, and so a cop can't stop you for it - they can only cite you if they pull you over for something else.
You may be interested in this site that summarizes the state of the U.S. with regards to cellphone usage while driving laws: http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/cellular-phone-u...
Summary:
Hand-held Cell Phone Use Ban: 14 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from using hand-held cell phones while driving.
All Cell Phone ban: No state bans all cell phone use for all drivers, but 37 states and D.C. ban all cell phone use by novice or teen drivers, and 20 states and D.C. prohibit any cell phone use for school bus drivers.
Text Messaging ban: 46 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands ban text messaging for all drivers.
-2 states prohibit text messaging by novice or teen drivers. -3 states restrict school bus drivers from texting.
Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious where you live and whether it is illegal to use your phone while driving wherever you are.
Is it legal in any state?
Yes, some cell phone use/distracted driving is allowed for adults in most states[0], but most states do not allow 'young drivers' to use a cell phone at all[1]; and texting is specifically banned or partially banned for all drivers in all but two states (Montana and Arizona)[2].
[0]http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/laws/cellphonelaws/maphandhe...
[1]http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/laws/cellphonelaws/mapyoungc...
[2]http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/laws/cellphonelaws/maptextin...
Re: Biggest Spike in Traffic Deaths in 50 Years? Blame Apps
#210I wonder if mobile phones have been responsible for more deaths or more lives saved over the past 10 years, and how you could attempt to calculate it.