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Road safety tips from Sweden

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Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#31

Post by ed_balls »

sjwright wrote: post #18
TomK32 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Greece you can buy little metal plugs for your sealtbelt socket so you don't have to use the seatbelt and don't get the error beeps from the car. I'm sure it does contribute to the fatality rate.

I don't get why anyone would want that. At no time in the two decades I've been driving a car, I've never, ever, ever thought to myself "This seatbelt is annoying, I wish I didn't have to use it." I don't even recall ever thinking that as a child passenger.

There are 2 reasons - Health issues - trouble breathing. - getting stuck in the car that's on fire, drowning etc. (yes I know you are better of with the seatbelt)

Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#32

Post by livewebtutor »

TheForumTroll wrote: post #23
TomK32 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Greece you can buy little metal plugs for your sealtbelt socket so you don't have to use the seatbelt and don't get the error beeps from the car. I'm sure it does contribute to the fatality rate.

And in the US you can buy beer openers that fit in the seat-belt sockets when not in use.

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Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#33

Post by abelsson »

jakeogh wrote: post #14
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #8

Another way to reduce road accidents would be to reduce Americans' dependence on cars. Better for the environment too.

It's not dependence, it's preference. Americans (and most everyone else) like to control their 4-vecor.

Having spent quite a bit of time in the US, I've noticed that getting somewhere there takes about the same amount time as home (which happens to be Sweden, hence me clicking the link). As an anecdotal example, some common times for me were about as follows: Going to work, 15 minutes. Grocery store, 5 minutes. Larger shopping mall, 30 minutes. The difference is that in the US that time is spent driving, while home it's walking/biking. So my control of my local 4-vector is essentially equivalent, just with a different space scaling factor applied.

Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#34

Post by acdha »

jakeogh wrote: post #14
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #8

Another way to reduce road accidents would be to reduce Americans' dependence on cars. Better for the environment too.

It's not dependence, it's preference. Americans (and most everyone else) like to control their 4-vecor.

In many places it’s dependence. If everything you need requires traveling miles without good sidewalks, bike lanes, etc. and the population density is too low for public transit, a car is a requirement.

Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#35

Post by briandear »

ed_balls wrote: post #31
sjwright wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get why anyone would want that. At no time in the two decades I've been driving a car, I've never, ever, ever thought to myself "This seatbelt is annoying, I wish I didn't have to use it." I don't even recall ever thinking that as a child passenger.

There are 2 reasons - Health issues - trouble breathing. - getting stuck in the car that's on fire, drowning etc. (yes I know you are better of with the seatbelt)

Trouble breathing? You’re probably wearing the seatbelt wrong. It goes across the chest, not around one’s neck. If one is that delicate that the light touch of a chest belt causes difficulty breathing, then one might ought to drive oneself to a hospital post haste.

Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#36

Post by jlarsson89 »

bjoli wrote: post #21

We also don't hand out driver's licenses left and right to anyone with the ability to find the correct pedals. From what I have seen in the states, you average bad swedish driver would be an american interstate wunderkind.

On the other hand plenty of people that really should have theirs taken away don't get theirs taken away, like old people with clear mental issues or people with bad eye sight that affect their ability to see people crossing roads etc.

Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#37

Post by briandear »

sdhgaiojfsa wrote: post #17
kalleboo wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the relevant statistic was deaths per kilometer traveled? Otherwise you get countries where people simply drive more skewed higher despite any given ride being just as safe/safer.

There are a lot of ways to slice the data, and each of them tells a different part of the story. Suppose two countries have the exact same number of fatalities per km, and the same population, but one country drives twice as much. It is still a relevant fact that the country that drives twice as much has twice as many deaths. Policies that discourage driving will help reduce death rates in that country.

Assuming death rates from driving are the only death rates affected. There are unintended consequences worth studying.

Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#38

Post by briandear »

jopsen wrote: post #20

This article talks a lot about child seats... And only mentions the important parts speed bumps, separation of traffic and requirements for driving licenses. I like speed bumps, bus lock, and round abouts... These features are self-enforcing and violators are punished with swift justice. When you run over a speed bump too fast, the good old laws of physics will meter out an immediate punishment :)

How about just enforcing the speed limit? Speed humps on a road designed for 30 often require slowing to 10. Clearly you have never driven or worked in an ambulance or in emergency services.

Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#39

Post by croon »

jlarsson89 wrote: post #36
bjoli wrote: post #21

We also don't hand out driver's licenses left and right to anyone with the ability to find the correct pedals. From what I have seen in the states, you average bad swedish driver would be an american interstate wunderkind.

On the other hand plenty of people that really should have theirs taken away don't get theirs taken away, like old people with clear mental issues or people with bad eye sight that affect their ability to see people crossing roads etc.

I don't think that detracts any from the initial point. Step one is still to initially only award licenses to competent drivers. That more can be done is (I suspect) a perpetual truth.

Re: Road safety tips from Sweden

#40

Post by lebski88 »

alkonaut wrote: post #11

Pushing a big 3.5yo into a rear facing seat is hard, even in Sweden, and I doubt it's very common to keep kids rear facing up to 4 here. We do listen to authorities but it's nearly physically impossible after they reach a certain length. I believe most start using front facing seats some time between ages 3 and 4 depending on size. One problem with rear facing seats and large children is that it requires a LOT of spa…

> (France, Italy, Britain) probably don't use rear facing seats as much

In the UK rear facing is a legal requirement up to 15 months - I think that's being extended to older kids soon. We used rear facing until about 3.5 for our eldest. At that point we got her a new forward facing one and gave that one to our youngest.

Two child seats basically means no one can fit in the middle unless you have an extra wide car. Some of the compact but bigger cars seem to be incredibly popular with parents around here.

I can't say we ever had an argument about front versus rear facing - that was just the direction the seat was in. They didn't even know there was another option! I can see how it might be difficult if you tried to change a seat a kid was already used to though. That said, pretty much everyone here uses ISOFIX bases with the extension bars so maybe we do have more room (as per the article). I'd recommend them either was as being able to clip the seats in and out is fantastic if you have a sleeping baby.

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