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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
#12Offtop:
Cars are pretty sad topic
It is sad how many good safety and driving easiness features modern cars have, yet majority of people do not have access to them due to price
It is also crazy how unreliable cars actually are. 20 years old car means some surprise every 3rd or 4th drive
Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
#13"Pedestrian deaths have been climbing since 2010 because of unsafe infrastructure and the prevalence of SUVs, which tend to be more deadly for pedestrians than smaller cars, according to Martin" The report itself shows there's an increase in pedestrian fatalities in slightly fewer than half of states and the increase comes from deaths at night and not in the daytime. How would an increase in SUVs (which is a national…
Visibility, maybe? As interior comfort took priority in design, those beefier body columns resulted in larger blind spots. Also, some SUVs are just massive, and might suffer from similar forward-visibility limitations that modern pickup trucks (classified as "light trucks," oddly) are getting slammed for right now, namely the front end being so high that the driver can't see a 3 foot object 16 feet in front of them.
Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
#14And until states make texting while driving a DUI-level offense, with the same penalties, it's not going to get better.
There's no excuse for it. And this superficial, useless article doesn't discuss it at all. Instead, it regurgitates pablum about the same regressive do-nothing "solution" known as "traffic calming." That's just ruining our streets instead of attacking the real problem.
Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
#15"Pedestrian deaths have been climbing since 2010 because of unsafe infrastructure and the prevalence of SUVs, which tend to be more deadly for pedestrians than smaller cars, according to Martin" The report itself shows there's an increase in pedestrian fatalities in slightly fewer than half of states and the increase comes from deaths at night and not in the daytime. How would an increase in SUVs (which is a national…
> When the pandemic arrived, there was an even greater surge as empty roads gave way to speeding and distracted driving.
Wait, so more cars is actually the answer. Fewer cars == more deaths.
> The pandemic has waned, but cases of reckless driving — and subsequently the number of Americans killed while walking — has not.
Ah crap, maybe everyone has long COVID then?
Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
#16Offtop: Cars are pretty sad topic It is sad how many good safety and driving easiness features modern cars have, yet majority of people do not have access to them due to price It is also crazy how unreliable cars actually are. 20 years old car means some surprise every 3rd or 4th drive
Much sadder: the car is the only the transportation option many people have in the majority of places in the US. The best way to reduce the number of car accidents is to reduce the number of cars by providing other options.
Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
#17Every country has its own flavor of bad driving. I live in the Czech republic and people here are very aggressive and inconsiderate drivers. However they are not sloppy or inattentive. The roads here are far too complex and busy to even look at a phone for more than a second or two. By contrast, driving in the us is super duper low stress. Roads are super wide and designed to be ultra comfortable for cars and drivers. As a result people are not alert while driving I think.
Another factor is that EVERYONE drives in the us. It doesn't matter if you like it, or are comfortable with it, or even if you're good at it. You HAVE to drive. Over here maybe only 50% of driving age people even have licenses. People who don't like driving don't have to since we have great public transportation.
The most sloppy driving I've ever seen is in the us. People weaving in and out of their lane staring at a phone, people driving into ditches, driving through building walls in parking lots you name it. The reality is that many people just should not be driving a car but are forced to by abysmal american infrastructure and even worse city planning.
Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
#18"Pedestrian deaths have been climbing since 2010 because of unsafe infrastructure and the prevalence of SUVs, which tend to be more deadly for pedestrians than smaller cars, according to Martin" The report itself shows there's an increase in pedestrian fatalities in slightly fewer than half of states and the increase comes from deaths at night and not in the daytime. How would an increase in SUVs (which is a national…
> How would an increase in SUVs (which is a national trend) cause this result?
Do you agree that a SUV has worse ability to observe the road? Do you agree that a pedestrian has more chances to survive after being hit by a small car?
If you answer "yes" to both my question than you have to understand that the real question is "why an increase in SUVs is not causing this result in other states". If your answer is "no" then you are talking not about "this result" but about a something else.
Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
#19And until states make texting while driving a DUI-level offense, with the same penalties, it's not going to get better. There's no excuse for it. And this superficial, useless article doesn't discuss it at all. Instead, it regurgitates pablum about the same regressive do-nothing "solution" known as "traffic calming." That's just ruining our streets instead of attacking the real problem.
Traffic calming is just an admission that state and local police are utterly useless to enforce laws against distracted driving and texting.
On almost every drive I see people speeding >15 mph over the limit, recklessly weaving in and out of traffic and making dangerous passes to get slightly ahead. The police are doing nothing against this dangerous and illegal behavior and won’t do anything about texting either regardless of the offense level.
Re: U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
#20"Pedestrian deaths have been climbing since 2010 because of unsafe infrastructure and the prevalence of SUVs, which tend to be more deadly for pedestrians than smaller cars, according to Martin" The report itself shows there's an increase in pedestrian fatalities in slightly fewer than half of states and the increase comes from deaths at night and not in the daytime. How would an increase in SUVs (which is a national…
> When the pandemic arrived, there was an even greater surge as empty roads gave way to speeding and distracted driving. Wait, so more cars is actually the answer. Fewer cars == more deaths. > The pandemic has waned, but cases of reckless driving — and subsequently the number of Americans killed while walking — has not. Ah crap, maybe everyone has long COVID then?
More cars => fewer pedestrians
Sometimes the easiest solutions hide in plain sight.