Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 358 posts

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#221

Post by twoWhlsGud »

FooBarBizBazz wrote: post #195
danaris wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we're going to try to "punish" SUV drivers for driving those vehicles, then I think we need to both recognize and do some things: 1) We need to recognize that there's a wide variety of vehicles in the SUV category. Many of them have replaced (not supplemented, replaced , because they sell better and car companies are hyperoptimizing their profits like everyone else) old standards like station wagons and minivans i…

> Full disclosure: I drive a Subaru Outback. [...T]he Outback's [gas mileage] is actually shockingly good for an SUV). Funny, I call the Outback an AWD station wagon, not an SUV at all. I've got no problem with that; I'd be much happier if people bought those. Indeed, the very existence of Subarus seems to make most SUVs unnecessary. The only SUV Subaru makes (that I am aware of) is the Forester (and while that's a l…

Note that Subaru raised the Outback up higher some years ago specifically so it would qualify as a light truck some years ago. So while I agree that it's more station wagonny than most light trucks it actually legally qualifies as one. I remember because I actually wrote a cranky letter to Subaru US about it and they sent back a polite response saying "hey, incentives!" more or less.

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/13/business/to-avoid-fuel-li...

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#222

Post by TheCoelacanth »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #114
matsemann wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Norwegian traffic law, it specifically says that you are to slow down in areas with children. So "the child ran into the street chasing a ball right in front of my truck" isn't a valid excuse, as that's something "to be expected" when driving in a residential area. At least in theory. Unfortunately the cops here almost never wants to prosecute cars hitting kids or pedestrians. There's always an excuse. "The su…

I agree that there is an ammount of reasonable care drivers should have. However, I think the contribution of pedestrians is generally understated. AT least in the US, 33% of pedestrians involved in fatal accidents were drunk. 16% were on freeways. 59% were on non-freeway arterials, while 22% were on local streets. [1] I found it surprising that fatalities are far more likely to involve Pedestrians being drunk or jay…

In those cases, the person who designed the road should be charged with manslaughter.

People don't just walk along the side of a freeway because they felt like it. They do it because negligent planners left them with no better route.

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#223

Post by twoWhlsGud »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #99
sickofparadox wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's government regulations that made trucks get this big, most people simply buy what is available in the form factor they like. Trucks are the most popular form factor in the United States (with pickups a close second)[1], and the manufacturers keep making the cars bigger because of the poorly written CAFE laws[2]. I, and I suspect most Americans with pickups, would prefer to purchase one the size of a '90s F-150 a…

> It's government regulations that made trucks get this big This is presented incredibly dishonestly in this context. It's well understood that automakers had their grubby little hands all over emissions regulations in the late Bush admin. They spent oodles of cash, tons of lobbyist time, and BEGGED for the exclusions for trucks that made complete sense at the time for TRUCKS, as in, pickup trucks used by laborers th…

Keith Bradsher's High and Mighty is a somewhat old but masterful book on the subject of how the SUV was put on the road to dominance:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_and_Mighty_(book)

well worth reading if you're trying to understand how we got in this mess

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#224

Post by gibbitz »

epage wrote: post #204
mturmon wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. As you may know, recent safety regulations prompted by rollover incidents have meant that the "A" and "C" pillars connecting the body to the roof have been made wider. [See the first 2 paragraphs of the "Design" section of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillar_(car) ] It seems like there's a second-order effect here on visibility that may not have been really appreciated.

With my previous car, I never remember having visibility issues. I then got a 2013. The pillars aie ierfect pedestian blockerr, especially when making turns. I don't see how me doing better in a roll over is better than me running someone over.

I've noticed this in the cars I've had over the past 15 years or so too. We hit a deer two years ago because it was moving perfectly in time with the side curtain airbag laden support column in my field of view. I barely saw it when I hit it even! I understand that rillover accidents have lead to these supports being thicker, but why was the solution not to lower the center of gravity on cars so they are less prone to rolling over?

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#225

Post by twoWhlsGud »

olyjohn wrote: post #129
somerandomqaguy wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...what? If you've got back, hip, knee, or ankle problems, then trying to bend down into a low car is an undignified exercise at best, a struggle at worst. A CUV doesn't have that problem, you just sit into it like a chair. For a family with young children, securing child seats into a CUV involves a lot less bending over then in lower car. Bear in mind that many child seats are 40 lbs. If you live in a snowy area, th…

Minivan. You can get a minivan that has more room than a crossover, lower load height so that you hurt even less getting in, and you have more headroom to get car seats in and out. They're far superior in every way. But everybody quit buying them because of some "uncool" factor. It's stupid. The ground clearance on most crossovers is a joke. I have to point out how my Lotus Elise has 6 inches of ground clearance, and…

I rented a Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid on my last business trip. No snow (SW) but a mix of suburban and rural roads and I was surprised at how much more fun it was to drive than the RAV4 I had on my last business trip (not to mention the giagantor 4Runner I rented over the winter break - to stop that thing you pass a motion, second it, send it to the executive branch and then hope it gets signed by the time you get to the stop sign at the bottom of the hill, but I digress). Modern minivans have apparently reached some odd pinnacle of car evolution right as they are going extinct. I imagine there's an alternate timeline where we have jetpacks and a general cure for cancer but only farm hands drive pickups...

(And you definitely don't step down into anything to get into it-quite the opposite. The driver's chair even auto pulls back to let you in which is definitely geezer friendly : )

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#226

Post by twoWhlsGud »

the_gastropod wrote: post #191
rhuru wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Common sense is the first casualty when any topic has political bias to it. This comment demonstrates that. Large vehicles are important part of American economy and mostly driven by blue collar workers doing their work. For example things like plumbing, construction site work etc. Now a days environment scientists and engineers too drive these large vehicles as they are very important for their day to day work. Not…

> Large vehicles are important part of American economy and mostly driven by blue collar workers doing their work Aaaaaaaabsolutely not! Trucks outnumber cars in every U.S. state. "Blue Collar" workers represent something like 16% of the U.S. workforce. The vast majority of truck drivers are not blue collar workers. Other countries have blue collar workers too. And trucks! Have you seen what they look like? Check thi…

Not to forget the ubiquitous small delivery vans all over Europe that seem to work fine for craft folk. Not everything that's been turned into a culture war by those who are up for profiting needs be.

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#227

Post by gibbitz »

Zancarius wrote: post #172
stefan_ wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Streets haven't gotten wider since then either. Maybe less of a problem in the US where everything is planned around humongous fire trucks, but in the EU if you had a street that could easily accommodate two moving lanes with parking on either side, that has basically narrowed down to one moving lane. Also reminds me of all the regulation around car lights - you literally specified the beam pattern light intensity co…

> Great, now everyone in a sedan is being blinded by all sorts of SUVs and trucks. Utter failure. I drive a truck and live in a mountainous area. Trust me, it's not just sedans. Nearly everyone drives around with their brights on and it seems they no longer bother to turn them down when approaching traffic (automatic dimming features don't work well up here). Consequently, night time driving is dangerous. I don't kno…

Yeah you shouldn't be able to see your car's shadow (cast by the car behinds headlights) on the road in front of you when your headlights are on...

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#228

Post by stcredzero »

Hamuko wrote: post #128
stcredzero wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, contemptuously painting a diverse group of people with a broad brush as pernicious -- History has something to say about this mental move.

I have a hard time believing that truck drivers are a diverse group of people when they're really only popular in a single region of the world.

I have a hard time believing that truck drivers are a diverse group of people

Painting a diverse group of millions of people with a broad brush, and making a claim that they're "all basically the same." History has something to say about that mental move.

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#229

Post by stcredzero »

baggachipz wrote: post #149
stcredzero wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, contemptuously painting a diverse group of people with a broad brush as pernicious -- History has something to say about this mental move.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

Your comment is the thing which invokes the thing that triggers Godwin's law in this thread. It's entirely possible, and quite morally important to call out the particular mental move, nonetheless.

In 2024, I find it's often now people who really, really want to make that mental move, who invoke Godwin's, so they can end the current conversation and find another conversation where they can.

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#230

Post by mikrotikker »

TheCoelacanth wrote: post #220
jetrink wrote: post #54

My proposed regulation is to introduce a hazardous vehicle license for large trucks and SUVs. Everyone is automatically granted one alongside their normal drivers license, but if you're caught driving recklessly (weaving through traffic on the highway, aggressively tailgating, speeding through residential or urban areas), you lose it and you have to drive a normal-sized car. Perhaps there's a way to earn it back thro…

They should just be outright banned. The high hood doesn't serve any practical purpose.

How do you even work on the engine in that thing?
Post reply on HN