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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

#551

Post by Symbiote »

hermannj314 wrote: post #46

In many states you are required to stop if a pedestrian is crossing the street. What has happened a lot is I will stop to let a pedestrian cross the street at a legal cross walk and the person behind me will assume I am an idiot, honk, and speed around me. My intuition is this is the cause of a significant amount of pedestrian deaths: impatient drivers that assume every stopped car is just an obstacle to zip around.…

In Britain stopping (to load/unload the car, or to park) at a pedestrian crossing is worth a £100 fine and ¼ of the driving licence 'lost' (do this four times within 3 (?) years and you're banned from driving and must retake the driving test). This is similar to passing a red light, or going slightly faster than the speed limit, though I think they have a larger fine.

I'm not sure what the penalty would be for overtaking a car stopped at a crossing. In theory it's the same, but in practise I think the stronger offence of dangerous driving would be used. If found guilty, that's an automatic ban from driving, an unlimited fine and up to 2 years jail.

It's so rare I can't find any news on this happening without other serious offences (speeding in residential areas, etc). I think it would count as "overtaking dangerously" though: https://www.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-...

The area you aren't allowed to stop within, or overtake within, is marked with zig-zag lines: https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/pedestrian-crossings.html

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

#552

Post by Symbiote »

acuozzo wrote: post #439
thatfrenchguy wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

Finland fines drivers according to their income: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/finnish-busine...

(Still disappointing that he was only banned from driving for 10 days, even though it was a third offence.)

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

#553

Post by Symbiote »

SoftTalker wrote: post #245
injb wrote: post #41

In Europe the view is that bigger vehicle = bigger responsibility. In the US the attitude seems to be bigger vehicle = bigger right of way. The party who stands to lose the most is expected to yield the right of way.

Are trains required to stop at level crossings in Europe, because they have the bigger responsibility?

The railway's responsibility is having a ten-nines reliable (or whatever it is) signalling system, to be practically certain that the lights, alarms and barriers of the level crossing work correctly every time. (Or fail safe, i.e. fail to the barriers lowering.)

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

#554

Post by blindriver »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #433
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.

I think American drivers are much more selfish and more glued to their phones than Europeans. However I think your point about SUVs make sense too. I guess we could tell the difference between pedestrian accidents vs pedestrian deaths to see how similar they are between Europe and the US.

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

#555

Post by notatoad »

ragebol wrote: post #343
notatoad wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Move out of the city, or put a blind over your window Being able to see other people's windows from your windows is an inescapable consequence of living in a city. If that's not acceptable to you, then you buy an acreage in the woods somewhere. It's not a reasonable thing to be protesting a development approval over.

Of course, in this case. It's up to the official to dismiss such constraints if unreasonable. But we got such laws and processes for a reason.

The law and process is a zoning bylaw. If a development conforms to the zoning bylaw, there should be no need for public engagement.

In no other scenario do we have a process of public meetings to decide whether or not to follow the law.

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

#556

Post by pandaman »

cmh89 wrote: post #519
rootusrootus wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

The 'you can be right and dead' trope is so tired.Of course we should always be looking to mitigate dangerous and distracted drivers. >Outside of HN, in real life safety is a responsibility of everyone. The person driving the gas propelled two ton vehicle has more responsibility to avoid hitting things than pedestrians have to avoid getting hit. >. You are careful when you drive, careful when you walk. You don't text…

In every city I've lived in the US jaywalking is actually illegal, perhaps it should be legal and even encouraged in your opinion but until it is - it's your responsibility to follow the rules.

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

#557

Post by shepherdjerred »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #69
pkulak wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, turning Houston into Madrid would be very hard. But this is one of the most incrementally solvable problems I've ever seen. There are hundreds of low-cost, low-effort ways to start making things better.

In the handful jurisdictions where I am familiar with zoning laws and the permitting process, low cost and low effort is not how I would describe any part of even a straightforward approval. Lord help you if you need a variance, and I cannot even imagine what eminent domain on that scale would look like. I do not see how the change would even be possible without tearing buildings down and building new ones closer to…

> In the handful jurisdictions where I am familiar with zoning laws and the permitting process, low cost and low effort is not how I would describe any part of even a straightforward approval.

At what point can we as a people say: screw it, break the laws and just get it done. it'll be worth it in the long-run.

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

#558

Post by xnx »

luxurytent wrote: post #15
last_responder wrote: post #8

Texting and driving have to be behind some large portion of this increase.

The hands-free law was IMO, a failure. What used to be people staring at their phones while holding them up at the steering wheel now has people trying to be more discreet and placing phones between their legs or near the cup holders. Hands-free! But also doubly dangerous.

I thought this was a problem at first, but I don't see anyone trying to hide it anymore. "Driving" is just an app that people glance at while using their phones.

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

#559

Post by cmh89 »

pandaman wrote: post #556
cmh89 wrote: post #519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 'you can be right and dead' trope is so tired.Of course we should always be looking to mitigate dangerous and distracted drivers. >Outside of HN, in real life safety is a responsibility of everyone. The person driving the gas propelled two ton vehicle has more responsibility to avoid hitting things than pedestrians have to avoid getting hit. >. You are careful when you drive, careful when you walk. You don't text…

In every city I've lived in the US jaywalking is actually illegal, perhaps it should be legal and even encouraged in your opinion but until it is - it's your responsibility to follow the rules.

Who said anything about jaywalking?

>t's your responsibility to follow the rules.

Sure! And motorist need to follow the rules of the road. Unfortunately when they break the rules, which they do most of the time, they can easily end someones life.

I'm guessing you're one of the good ones who definitely doesn't speed every time they are in the car.

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

#560

Post by olyjohn »

jacurtis wrote: post #283
LarryDarrell wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've been regulating the wrong things when it comes to vehicles. Instead of being obsessed with MPG, we should have been obsessed with weight and size. There's no reason for a sedan to be heavier than 3000 lbs. There's no reason 1/2 ton pickups should be bigger than a 1994 Ford F150. Once a car is light and small(ish) the good MPG will follow. My 1988 Volvo 240 got 30mpg on a recent road trip and that's with it need…

> There's no reason a 1/2 ton pickup should be bigger than a 1994 Ford F150 It is funny that we still call trucks like the F150, Ram 1500, Silverado 1500, etc as 1/2 ton pickups. Even though they are still officially categorized like that by all the manufacturers, Edmunds, Motortrend, KBB, and so on, they are actually essentially 1 ton pickups. Our "light-duty pickups" (which is their official classification) are act…

They are called 1500s. So they should be 3/4 ton trucks, no? 1500lbs is literally 3/4 of a ton.
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