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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

#431

Post by stouset »

raverbashing wrote: post #389
CaptainMarvel wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t forget there have been massive loopholes in vehicle emission regulations which favour larger SUVs and pick-up trucks. If regulations actually focused on MPG, these vehicles would not be the size and weight that they are. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/cafe-lo... Right target. Bad implementation. Going forwards, with widespread electric vehicles, focusing directly on size and weight makes a…

Blaming regulation removes agency from people. Or maybe yeah, most consumers just mimic other people and cost be darned. Then when gas eventually becomes pricier they complain because they had the foresight of a goldfish. (And theoretically no efficiency laws need to be passed. Increase taxes on fuel and there you have it)

Individuals have agency. Populations behave statistically in line with the structural incentives of the systems they operate within.

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

#432

Post by p_j_w »

egberts1 wrote: post #241

Just a few moments ago, two pedestrians just jumped out in middle of a four-lane residential street that has no crosswalk for at least 400yd in either direction from behind a hedgerow. Didn't see it but lucky i was traveling 10 below speed limit (in a 40mph speed limit) My "S"pecially "H"igh "I"ntensity "T"ooter emitted a 142 dB sound and the glee of watching both pedies startled and scurrying faster across the stree…

Not only do you have a 4 lane residential road but there's no crosswalk for 400 yards in either direction and you think the problem is your ability to drive uninhibited is at risk. Not only that, but you think the worst part about your potentially hitting someone with your car is not serious injury or death, but that you might have to deal with it legally. Good fucking god, there's so much wrong here.

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

#433

Post by Tiktaalik »

blindriver wrote: post #48

Isn't it obvious? Distracted drivers and distracted pedestrians from cell phones. I was just rear-ended last week by a distracted driver, luckily I wasn't injured. There needs to be a measure as to how distracting a car's interface is, and there needs to be regulations around this. Tesla's interface for example, takes far too much time and attention to do simply things like change the fan speed or temperature. I thin…

People in Europe have iPhones too, but their pedestrian death rate is plunging in compared to the USA. USA is an outlier and there's something else going on.

It's likely SUV related given that the most popular cars in the EU are small hatchbacks.

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

#435

Post by rootusrootus »

cmh89 wrote: post #352
johnea wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this analysis, pickup trucks and SUVs are identical, in that they have high vertical grills that obstruct the driver's view of the area immediately in front of the vehicle. This vehicle configuration is the major cause of the increase in pedistrian accidents. However I was surprised the article didn't mention pedestrian behavior at all, which is clearly increasing the risk of pedistrian accidents in recent years.…

>My experiences with pedistrian near misses have been when people step in front of my car while staring at their phone Which means you failed to see the pedestrian a yield to them. You caused the near miss.

"He was right, dead right, but just as dead as if he had been dead wrong."

Outside of HN, in real life safety is a responsibility of everyone. You are careful when you drive, careful when you walk. You don't text while driving, you don't text while crossing the street. Everyone stays safer.

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

#436

Post by lusus_naturae »

I am not a fan of people needlessly dying. I guess I don't understand why automotive deaths are such a focus on internet boards. I am guessing because there's desire to push public sentiment towards self-driving vehicles? Self-driving vehicles would be interesting to implement/have regardless of anti-car/anti-human driving agendas; the demise of one does not necessitate the acceptance of the other.

Or if we care so much about people dying in some manner, then why not focus on preventable deaths from falls, or accidental poisonings, or other reasons? If the idea is to prevent unnecessary, accidental death then it makes sense to sort the data based on numbers of deaths caused annually by category. Otherwise the pearl cluthing is just that, inauthentic and disingenuous.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/accidental-injury.htm

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

#437

Post by Tiktaalik »

xvilka wrote: post #4

More public transport - less pedestrian deaths.

Seriously this.

If we assume that people are flawed and will fuck up and make random deadly mistakes, one of the most effective ways to make the deaths go down is to remove the cars from the road.

You might have the same mistake rate, but the total amount of cars going down will mean the deaths drop.

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

#438

Post by piloto_ciego »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #13

Article ignores it, but looking at the source data you can see pedestrian deaths were flat, then a large spike in 2020 during Covid, and now we are at a new higher plateau. Cause is not a change in roads, or cars, or more SUVs. Covid/lockdowns changed the way people drive. Less civility, less police enforcement, more chaos. Driving is noticeably worse and more stressful than pre-Covid.

There’s a growing sense of anger in literally almost everyone I know.

Somewhere on the way, people have become more misanthropic, close-minded, and angry. I’m not sure why.

I think it is social media and the enshittification of all these services? Also, the rise of authoritarianism in America and abroad may contribute to this? Regardless, more and more I see people living in a fantasy world where people both “suck immeasurably” and (strangely) have no freewill or agency and are just meat robots.

I think these two things together are really pernicious.

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

#439

Post by acuozzo »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #406
acuozzo wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The efficacy of speed cameras depends on the socioeconomics of the area. The "car culture" lunatic drivers I've met in the Baltimore / DC area just make a hobby of fighting tickets. They have lawyers they regularly work with and somehow always make it out with their license intact.

I mean, you have a photo of them timestamped, there should be no recourse in those cases?

The point I was trying to make is that, after a threshold is reached, one would reasonably assume that these individuals would have their licenses revoked or, at least, be forced to drive in an automobile factory-locked to not be able to travel faster than e.g., 70mph.

The lawyers involved don't stop these individuals from having to pay fines. They can afford the fines and the lawyers.

The lawyers are there to keep the licenses intact. "But Mr. X needs his license in order to get to work at his important job for Corporation Y!"

Financial deterrents don't work well in places with high median incomes like Maryland.

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

#440

Post by supertrope »

e40 wrote: post #194
jdalgetty wrote: post #33

I live in a subdivision full of young families with kids. I'm also a runner, an avid dog walker and someone who walks his kids to and from school every day. As someone out on foot on a daily basis I am constantly blown away by the amount of people speeding on residential streets and not stopping at stop signs. I don't get it! These are clearly people who live in these neighbourhoods yet they don't care enough about t…

I think the rise of delivery of all sorts of things (food, goods) has people who don't live in our neighborhoods doing a lot of this fast, stop-sign-running behavior. When I walk near dinner time I notice a lot more of the behavior.

Delivery can be especially bad because the drivers have a direct incentive to dash from customer to customer. Maximizing their revenue takes precedence ūber (over) driving safely. This is nothing new. Dominos had to cancel their 30 min or its free guarantee because drivers were running red lights.
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