Pedestrians on phones, not drivers on phones.
Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
21–30 of 268 posts
Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
#22> We also can’t rule out that increased recklessness or distractedness on the part of pedestrians is playing a role. Or a raw increase in pedestrians on urban roads? Maybe people are more willing to go on a walk at night in the city these days?
Anecdotal, but I've been in some cities where pedestrians don't even look, they just walk right into the road. Yes, I would be at fault if I hit them (in many cases) but I'm also not perfect, and also don't expect them to charge right in front of me.)
Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
#23Pedestrians are hit by cars in the USA because the roads are not designed for non-car users. This is exacerbated by distracted driving, drunk driving, and recent car design changes like higher hood heights but the root of it is poorly designed roads which don’t consider pedestrians’ needs.
As compared to the European roads that are half the width of US roads?
Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
#24[deleted]
Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
#25It is literally 20 times as many people killed every year as are killed in mass shootings but you can't get anyone to care at all about it. Blame the victim, did you see what they were wearing?
My theory is its because what we respond to is _not_ number of deaths but instead "number of deaths in excess of what we've priced in". In the standard american mental model we assume there are going to be lots of road deaths so nobody really responds to it
Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
#26It is literally 20 times as many people killed every year as are killed in mass shootings but you can't get anyone to care at all about it. Blame the victim, did you see what they were wearing?
Even moreso than guns, the automobile industry has been waging an incredibly successful propaganda campaign for over a century now equating the ownership and use of a personal automobile with freedom.
This is true, people having a complete meltdown to the idea of walkable cities was very telling
Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
#27There are a multitude of issues: - poor visibility in modern cars due to rollover protection - touch screens and touch controls in cars - general proliferation of controls in cars - smart phones & smart phone addictions - higher vehicle belt lines are better for vehicle --> vehicle impacts but worse for vehicle --> pedestrian impacts - poor pedestrian infrastructure, sidewalks, crosswalks, etc.
How have touchscreens had such a free pass compared to mobile phones?!
Just kidding I know the answer is lobbying
Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
#28It is literally 20 times as many people killed every year as are killed in mass shootings but you can't get anyone to care at all about it. Blame the victim, did you see what they were wearing?
Wow - I think the problem there is that it is ONLY 20 times the number killed in mass shootings.
Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
#29Great analysis - though I can't help but notice that 2009 is right when smartphones really took off (iPhone in 2007, Android in 2008, then mass adoption). The data showing accidents getting more deadly rather than more frequent actually makes sense if you combine two factors: phones causing more distracted driving incidents, plus our bigger American vehicles turning what would be injuries elsewhere into deaths. That could explain why it's US-specific - other countries probably have the same phone distraction problem, but their smaller cars mean less fatal outcomes. The distraction data might be weak simply because people don't admit they were on their phone after killing someone, but sometimes the obvious answer deserves more weight than we give it.
Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?
#30This morning while jogging in the US I came to an intersection. Green lights and walk on in my direction. A car approaching from my left had a red light, the driver glanced to his left and without stopping or looking in my direction, turned right across my path. I expected this of course, so avoided being run over. If I wasn't watching for this, it likely would be a different outcome.
So why do so many pedestrians get killed in the US? The two main reasons to me are: 1. Drivers don't look for pedestrians, and 2. pedestrians expect drivers to follow rules.
Another contributing factor is of course the huge vehicles that crush people with drivers barely noticing...