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Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?

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Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?

#111

Post by tomasphan »

astonex wrote: post #59

Anecdotally, on my few visits to the US (NY and Colorado), the driving I saw was absolutely atrocious compared to Europe. People were swerving and failing to stay in their lanes on Interstates, everyone was speeding well above the limit (everyone speeds on Motorways, but it seems it's taken to another level in the US). Then you have turn right on red meaning drivers just don't care and turn regardless. Then you have…

Totally agree. When someone in my family got their license in the US they had to drive around a parking lot, parallel park and pull into a normal parking lot. That’s it. This was during COVID so the tester wasn’t allowed inside the car. It absolutely reflects in the quality of drivers today.

I often drive in Europe for business and cry a little on the inside when I’m back on New York streets.

Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?

#112

Post by Zambyte »

Zigurd wrote: post #85
banga wrote: post #30

This 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 ge…

Pedestrians pay with their lives so that we can have butch looking trucks in the US. Seriously. It's for the vanity of pavement queens. And it's measurable. Quantifiable. Regulators are unwilling to take on this problem because they'd be called woke.

The "pavement queens" have been convinced they need larger by companies that sell trucks, because larger trucks have lower legal requirements for fuel efficiency.

Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?

#114

Post by willis936 »

ceejayoz wrote: post #63
willis936 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And drivers. Readers should ask themselves when they first got a smartphone and if it was around 2009.

You should ask yourself whether smartphones are a US-only phenomenon. From the article: > Other countries haven’t seen this increase in pedestrian deaths: in every other high-income country, rates are flat or declining. Whatever’s causing the problem seems to be limited to the US.

Smartphones + US culture is limited to the US.

Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?

#115

Post by pmontra »

everdrive wrote: post #13

There 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.

But why only in the USA? Cars and phones are the same in all the countries listed in the OP and it's not SUVs vs sedans. So are we left with your last point, different infrastructure?

Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?

#116

Post by lksaar »

pluc wrote: post #64
Frieren wrote: post #53

Road and street design is the main difference with Europe. A lot of work has been put to make streets safer for everybody. That fact alone acts as a multiplier for everything else. The cars are bigger in the USA? The bad streets make it way worse. People are distracted at the phone? The bad street design makes it more deathly. Fix USA's streets and towns and all kinds of deaths will be decreased. It is the most impor…

This blows my mind considering most North American streets were designed for cars, whereas the same cannot be said for Europe. Maybe it's the reason: streets can be so narrow and winding in Europe that you have to pay attention?

Yea, I read an article on here a few years ago (which I can't seem to find anymore), that a lot more cars in the US crash into buildings compared to the EU and the main takeaway point was that it is probably because of the long and straight roads in the US, since you go faster and aren't as focused.

Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?

#117

Post by softwaredoug »

karma_fountain wrote: post #80
softwaredoug wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right turns are really dangerous for pedestrians. A lot of localities started banning right-on-red because cars look left only.

Cars don't look at all.

I've done my fair share of screaming "HEY!!!" as they pull out

Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?

#118

Post by mrweasel »

ceejayoz wrote: post #44
al_borland wrote: post #37

I don’t buy the distraction numbers. I see people on their phones constantly while driving, despite laws against it. It’s also impossible to really prove anything after the fact, as the article touches on. The graph shows a massive increase in “distraction not reported,” which to me just sounds like the driver didn’t choose to incriminate themself. The spike started in 2010, which is when 4G was rolling out, Instagra…

Any attempt to blame it primarily on phones has to wrangle with the fact that those phones are available and in use everywhere on the planet, not just the USA.

I was thinking the same, but many other countries have drivers and pedestrians more separated, to while the distraction, from either the driver or the pedestrians is still a problem, it's mitigated by the greater distance between the two.

Still the "on drug or drunk" for the pedestrians is wild.

Re: Why are so many pedestrians killed by cars in the US?

#119

Post by 542354234235 »

banga wrote: post #30

This 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 ge…

The reason drivers are able to drive like that is the design of the streets themselves. Things like raised crosswalks[1] and corner extensions[2] slow cars down and force them to pay attention. A lot of intersections in my area are the opposite, where they lower the whole curb to road level so cars can cut onto the curb to make the turn faster. There are lots of ways that the US builds infrastructure in ways that make it much more dangerous for pedestrians and bikers.

[0] https://highways.dot.gov/safety/speed-management/traffic-cal... [1] 3.14 Raised Crosswalk section of [0] [2] 3.16 Corner Extension/Bulbout section of [0]

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