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U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

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Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#211

Post by mbauman »

kube-system wrote: post #178
S_A_P wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the sentiment, but is it these assault vehicles at fault here? I tend to think that the real problem is distracted driving, since EVERYONE from the smallest Kia on the street to the biggest lifted truck seems to have trouble staying off their phones while driving.

Tall vehicles are not at fault for causing pedestrian accidents, but they make it more likely that a pedestrian accident results in a death.

Given that pedestrian (and especially child) visibility is so low in these gargantuan vehicles, I don't see how you can make such a definitive statement absolving their fault in causing collisions without data.

Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#212

Post by SauciestGNU »

evandale wrote: post #171
lotsofpulp wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that does nothing, because the root problem of destinations being too far from one another is not addressed. A few more buses and trains are not going to cut it. You need to outcompete the convenience of a personal car. The bus or train has to run at least every 10min, otherwise one missed connection and you’re wasting 20min+ with your refrigerated groceries. And that type of frequency is simply not econo…

> A few more buses and trains are not going to cut it. So add more buses and trains. > You need to outcompete the convenience of a personal car. More buses and trains will make this happen. More bike lanes will make this happen. With the proper infrastructure people can go longer distances without a car. All these things can be done incrementally and you're trying to claim they can't be. > The bus or train has to run…

Another note on the refrigeration issue - I get around predominantly by bike, and if I need to I have a soft cooler (like delivery people use) that I can put an ice pack in to transport frozen goods. But last night I went out with just a backpack in 80F heat and bought ice cream that survived the 20 minute trip home just fine.

Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#213

Post by bearjaws »

e40 wrote: post #190
ethanbond wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would COVID/lockdowns have “changed the way people drive?” Any proposed mechanism? Seems more likely you had a lot of shifting around of people’s driving (e.g. city dwellers moving to suburbs)

The "defund the police" movement that happened just before Covid has contributed to police pulling back enforcement of all sorts of things. Also, many cities have a "no chase" rule for police now because of high-profile crashes which killed people. Guessing the lawsuit payouts were large and contributed to the decisions. I think people realized there are no consequences so decided to do what the heck they wanted.

All while many states have increased funding.

Here in Florida the cops are complete dead weight, they used to enforce DUIs religiously Friday / Saturday night. Now you will barely see anyone pulled over and definitely a marked increase in suspected DUI drivers in the early hours (2-4am).

We literally have people planning open street races and shut downs on Facebook groups, and the cops do absolutely nothing.

Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#214

Post by frankthedog »

kube-system wrote: post #178
S_A_P wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the sentiment, but is it these assault vehicles at fault here? I tend to think that the real problem is distracted driving, since EVERYONE from the smallest Kia on the street to the biggest lifted truck seems to have trouble staying off their phones while driving.

Tall vehicles are not at fault for causing pedestrian accidents, but they make it more likely that a pedestrian accident results in a death.

The increased distance something must be from a larger car for it to be visible also contributes to accidents.

Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#215

Post by ch4s3 »

robswc wrote: post #201
ch4s3 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excuse me I had to recheck the CDC data, the most common spots are actually in urban areas on shoulders or where there is no crosswalk. Basically in places where pedestrian infrastructure is poor.

Do you have a link to this data? I'd be curious to see it. I've driven through/around the deadliest city for pedestrians and in my experience driving there, it seemed both drivers and pedestrians had a death wish. Many drivers were running red lights and many pedestrians were just crossing wherever they felt like it. Also, lots of people obviously on drugs vaguely aware of their surroundings. So what you're saying ch…

Laughably the CDC's site is down now! You can google "cdc data on pedestrian traffic deaths".

Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#216

Post by pxc »

luxurytent wrote: post #11

I guess pickup trucks fall under the category of SUVs? It's wild how we've lost access to our streets and neighbourhoods for the convenience of mostly suburban vehicle users. Actually not wild, but disgraceful. The majority of roads are too wide and with little options for alternative modes of transport, drivers are growingly frustrated and angry on the road. We continue to make the mistake of thinking the solution i…

> We continue to make the mistake of thinking the solution is wider roads.

I swear, bro. Just let me build one more lane. I swear we're gonna fix traffic.

https://youtube.com/shorts/0dKrUE_O0VE

Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#217

Post by saiya-jin »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #162
ahoy wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop signs basically dont work anywhere. If you want people to drive slowly, you have to build streets that make them do so. If anyone is interested in this stuff, the youtube channel NotJustBikes talks a lot about this and related topics. Here's a short video on how "traffic calming" infrastructure gets drivers to slow down, and we all know that stop signs just dont. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tGOBOw9s-QM

Stop sign + a tiny roundabout is the cheapest way to this, e.g https://www.google.fr/maps/@37.4461846,-122.1654555,3a,75y,3... Someone probably died here for this roundabout to be added though.

This is not the best design, you can still go full speed through it. Much better ones actually force you to slow down, ie sub 30kmh otherwise your suspension, tires etc will get hammered a bit (or more). There are numerous ways how to do it, ie central island is wide, island's walls are high and steep, you can have speed bumps before it etc. Its has been done elsewhere and it works.

Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#218

Post by barbariangrunge »

luxurytent wrote: post #11

I guess pickup trucks fall under the category of SUVs? It's wild how we've lost access to our streets and neighbourhoods for the convenience of mostly suburban vehicle users. Actually not wild, but disgraceful. The majority of roads are too wide and with little options for alternative modes of transport, drivers are growingly frustrated and angry on the road. We continue to make the mistake of thinking the solution i…

I live in a small town with... not enough sidewalks. I try to walk my dog, but half the streets where I live, I have to walk on the street or else on people's lawns. I definitely walk a lot less because of it

Not really a systemic issue in this case, just a pet peeve

Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#219

Post by michaelsshaw »

AlbertCory wrote: post #170

"Walking without looking where you're going" needs to be a ticketable offense. Extra fines if you walk into a street. Sometimes I'll see someone heading right towards me, not looking, and I shout "Hello!" Frequently there isn't even an apology.

Makes sense: as pedestrians you are at much greater risk so it is your responsibility to make sure psychopaths driving dangerous lifted trucks don't kill you at every turn.

Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high

#220

Post by sokoloff »

ssully wrote: post #210
sokoloff wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with making this jailable (which I do not support in the absence of a collision) is that you stopping to let a pedestrian legally cross is difficult to distinguish from you stopping in a travel lane or bike lane to pick up an Uber fare or stopping to double park near someone waiting for their own Uber. The latter two cases are actually obstacles created by anti-social behavior and are probably more common…

If you pull up behind a car stopped at a pedestrian crossing, your assumption should be they are stopped for a pedestrian.

GP is suggesting they’re in a locale where mid-block pedestrians have the right of way. (I think they may have edited their post to add “at a legal crosswalk” as I don’t think I read that the first time and it does change the meaning significantly.)
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