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

npr.org

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

#31

Post by Moldoteck »

ShadowBanThis01 wrote: post #14

And 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.

the thing is, traffic calming works, it is applied in a lot of places with 'vision zero'. Is it a bit more uncomfortable because of bumps, turns, narrowings? yes. Is it a deal breaker? nope. Drivers are still in comfortable cars, with AC, overall speed is not affected because of less accidents, they mind their own business and 'calming infra' is enforcing more attention and reduces nr of decisions a driver must take to go from point A to B

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

#32

Post by theshrike79 »

jansan wrote: post #29

How much does a driver's license cost in the US? What do you have to do in order to get one? Here in Germany, my son has to sit through 14 theory lessons and then pass a theoretical test (with questions out of a pool of 1400 questions). Then he needs 12 mandatory driving lessons (night, highway, country road) and probably 8 more lessons to get him to the rquired level to pass the driving test. This will set me back a…

From movies I've learned that Americans get their licenses in high-school by a teacher who just gives them the license so they don't need to sit through another crappy attempt at the course they built in the parking lot with traffic cones.

Dunno how it works for real, but can't be much different =)

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

#33

Post by Moldoteck »

robertlagrant wrote: post #9
littlestymaar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How would an increase in SUVs (which is a national trend) cause this result? It's going to depend a lot on local pedestrian habits and on the available infrastructures: as a thought experiment say in State A people are never walking in the street, while in State B they are walking a lot, then the national increase in SUV will have no impact on pedestrian death in State A but will have on State B .

Only if this is true. If the increase at night then it's unlikely to be because of SUVs, unless there's correlating evidence that shows it's states where SUVs are driven at night more. If there were evidence found that is linked to nighttime, e.g. because more people are crossing roads at night than before, or wearing less night-visible clothing than before, then that would be the place to start.

there may be different correlations, for example maybe suv's limit too much the visibility at night, but yes, we need more data

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

#34

Post by paulgb »

Rapzid wrote: post #15
ALittleLight wrote: post #3

"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?

Anecdotally, in NYC it feels like something “clicked” during COVID where some small but meaningful segment of drivers just stopped caring about any social contract. I see more cars blatantly running reds, driving with expired (or no) plates, and doing stupid things to shave a few seconds off their commute.

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

#35

Post by guerrilla »

jansan wrote: post #29

How much does a driver's license cost in the US? What do you have to do in order to get one? Here in Germany, my son has to sit through 14 theory lessons and then pass a theoretical test (with questions out of a pool of 1400 questions). Then he needs 12 mandatory driving lessons (night, highway, country road) and probably 8 more lessons to get him to the rquired level to pass the driving test. This will set me back a…

That can't be fixed unless it's possible to live without a car in the US which is bery far from the case.

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

#36

Post by Rapzid »

danuker wrote: post #27
jansan wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More cars => fewer pedestrians Sometimes the easiest solutions hide in plain sight.

Survival of the fittest! And the fittest are driving 2-ton death machines.

We can stop these senseless pedestrian deaths. One SUV per child; let's gooo!

Gonna start working on my TED talk.

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

#37

Post by trgn »

ShadowBanThis01 wrote: post #14

And 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 creating a virtuous driving environment, encouraging considerate and calm driving.

Current american roads are a vicious environment, encouraging speeding, jostling for position, zoning out.

Traffic calming is the exact opposite of ruining streets.

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

#38

Post by mtgx »

javagram wrote: post #19
ShadowBanThis01 wrote: post #14

And 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 reg…

[dead]

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

#39

Post by [deleted] »

jansan wrote: post #29

How much does a driver's license cost in the US? What do you have to do in order to get one? Here in Germany, my son has to sit through 14 theory lessons and then pass a theoretical test (with questions out of a pool of 1400 questions). Then he needs 12 mandatory driving lessons (night, highway, country road) and probably 8 more lessons to get him to the rquired level to pass the driving test. This will set me back a…

[deleted]

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

#40

Post by Tade0 »

jansan wrote: post #29

How much does a driver's license cost in the US? What do you have to do in order to get one? Here in Germany, my son has to sit through 14 theory lessons and then pass a theoretical test (with questions out of a pool of 1400 questions). Then he needs 12 mandatory driving lessons (night, highway, country road) and probably 8 more lessons to get him to the rquired level to pass the driving test. This will set me back a…

I'd rather everyone adopt the German system and have public transport as an alternative for those who can't pass the test.

Over here, across your eastern border, there's been a huge increase in the number of people on the road and it's becoming increasingly obvious that some people are better off taking the bus/train.

Problem is, trains/buses are disappearing, so especially elderly people are either stuck at home or have to get behind the wheel, to mixed results.

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