31–40 of 81 posts
Wonder how much of this can be tied to the economy getting better and more people buying/driving (used and less safe) cars when they previously couldn't afford to.
If had to guess, I would attribute the rise to mobile devices distracting drivers - hence all the campaigns to stop texting+driving.
also conducted a survey that indicates some possible causes for the steady increases, including speed, texting via touch input or voice, as well as driving while under the influence. I think most of it can be attributed to cellphone usage while driving. And now that most drivers choose to use their smartphones as GPS rather than a dedicated GPS device, I think it's going to get much worse.
This. My car insurance went up 25% recently b/c of this trend. That's right, OTHER PEOPLES behavior is costing me money. I guess thats how insurance works though right. I mean the insurance companies need to be guaranteed to make money right???
automated enforcement for speed limit violations That is a concerning recommendation. How would this be achieved? GPS tracking? Speed limit cameras? Both methods can have serious privacy implications.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recogni...
Wonder how much of this can be tied to the economy getting better and more people buying/driving (used and less safe) cars when they previously couldn't afford to.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfortunately there isn't a standard way to collect this data on a national level. Believe it or not its up to that local jurisdiction, or State (in the case of state patrol) to dictate what information they gather and how it is gathered. This makes comparisons and real statistical analysis quite difficult. Source: I'm in the traffic safety industry.
There is no federal database of traffic fatalities? In terms of human resources we lose on the order of 150 billion (40000 *7,000,000 /2 ) dollars a year in traffic fatalities. That's not including the lost work from injuries. That's like 1% of the GDP. You would think that this would be a good enough reason to at least compile a database of causes. Even an incomplete one could be useful.
automated enforcement for speed limit violations That is a concerning recommendation. How would this be achieved? GPS tracking? Speed limit cameras? Both methods can have serious privacy implications.
Automated enforcement of speed limit violations would be fine, as long as our speed limits were adjusted for strict enforcement versus human enforcement. Almost everyone will drive 35-40 in a 30, but you could make a case that anyone breaking 45-50mph for more than a few seconds should automatically get a ticket. Even better, the automated enforcement could account for actual danger, using road conditions, traffic de…
So no, widespread violation of speed limits is not in fact an argument towards allowing the violation of speed limits. Most countries are already much more lenient here than physical reality allows for.
also conducted a survey that indicates some possible causes for the steady increases, including speed, texting via touch input or voice, as well as driving while under the influence. I think most of it can be attributed to cellphone usage while driving. And now that most drivers choose to use their smartphones as GPS rather than a dedicated GPS device, I think it's going to get much worse.
> I think most of it can be attributed to cellphone usage while driving. This. My car insurance went up 25% recently b/c of this trend. That's right, OTHER PEOPLES behavior is costing me money. I guess thats how insurance works though right. I mean the insurance companies need to be guaranteed to make money right???
At least on average anyway. Or they will stop writing insurance policies.
also conducted a survey that indicates some possible causes for the steady increases, including speed, texting via touch input or voice, as well as driving while under the influence. I think most of it can be attributed to cellphone usage while driving. And now that most drivers choose to use their smartphones as GPS rather than a dedicated GPS device, I think it's going to get much worse.
> I think most of it can be attributed to cellphone usage while driving. This. My car insurance went up 25% recently b/c of this trend. That's right, OTHER PEOPLES behavior is costing me money. I guess thats how insurance works though right. I mean the insurance companies need to be guaranteed to make money right???