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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?

#161

Post by globular-toast »

paulcole wrote: post #14

The answer is so simple. We really really really really like our cars/trucks/SUVs in the US and have agreed that about 30,000 to 40,000 people a year will die so that we can keep driving the way we do. It’s the price we pay for the way we choose to live.

It's funny because when I see people who really, really like something their faces are filled with joy. They talk about what they love and it's always positive.

When I see car people I see anger, frustration, furrowed brows everywhere, oh and did you hear about that asshole on the road yesterday?

From the outside this "love" looks more like an abusive relationship or Stockholm syndrome or something.

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

#162

Post by potato3732842 »

alterom wrote: post #102
paulcole wrote: post #14

The answer is so simple. We really really really really like our cars/trucks/SUVs in the US and have agreed that about 30,000 to 40,000 people a year will die so that we can keep driving the way we do. It’s the price we pay for the way we choose to live.

I like how your comment is downvoted even though this hypothesis is directly supported by the data from the article. Fat cars getting fatter, pedestrian-hostile streets becoming faster, city infrastructure requiring people to drive everywhere. Hmmmm, what could be the reason.

>I like how your comment is downvoted even though this hypothesis is directly supported by the data from the article.

I like (by which I mean I think it indicates a lack of moral character) that you say this despite the articles conclusion basically being "the data is all over the place, I see no strong trends I guess it's the SUVs, ugh, maybe"

Like yeah, it probably is the SUVs to an extent but the data only indirectly supports this at best and there's probably confounding factors (in particular road design which has been discussed at length and people all over these commands are bringing up).

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

#163

Post by melenaboija »

I’m from Spain and have lived in the U.S. for 11 years. I 100 percent feel less punished here than in Spain while driving.

Just yesterday while taking my daughter to school, I was looking at my phone, the light turned green, and the car behind me had to wait a few seconds, it was a police car. He clearly saw me, and absolutely nothing happened. The police back home in Catalonia would have roasted me for that.

And I have seen wild things here in US besides tons of people using phones like brushing teeth or eating with a plate and a fork.

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

#164

Post by potato3732842 »

globular-toast wrote: post #161
paulcole wrote: post #14

The answer is so simple. We really really really really like our cars/trucks/SUVs in the US and have agreed that about 30,000 to 40,000 people a year will die so that we can keep driving the way we do. It’s the price we pay for the way we choose to live.

It's funny because when I see people who really, really like something their faces are filled with joy. They talk about what they love and it's always positive. When I see car people I see anger, frustration, furrowed brows everywhere, oh and did you hear about that asshole on the road yesterday? From the outside this "love" looks more like an abusive relationship or Stockholm syndrome or something.

>When I see car people I see anger, frustration, furrowed brows everywhere, oh and did you hear about that asshole on the road yesterday?

If you actually pay attention when driving you'll see a ton of sub par behavior. Ignorance is bliss and they're not ignorant.

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

#165

Post by dboreham »

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…

A difference I haven't seen mentioned here is: the police.

In the US there's a melange of different police forces in any area. Only one of them (Highway Patrol) cares about driving. And in my experience they don't care much about anything pre-accident (except for revenue-raising efforts like speed tickets for 10mph over the limit).

E.g. in the US you'll see countless vehicles with one headlight not working. In the UK (at least when I last lived there) you'd be pulled over and fined for even headlights that aren't correctly aimed.

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

#166

Post by sanex »

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…

Looks like most of these comments aren't reading the article. Most of the pedestrian deaths are not at intersections. Likely it's a combo of big vehicles, distracted pedestrians and distracted drivers. One thing I've noticed in other countries is people are much more likely to jaywalk. I wonder if that is becoming more common as our share of immigrants increases.

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

#167

Post by bombcar »

potato3732842 wrote: post #79
bombcar wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d like someone to do a deep dive in the data; I suspect that almost all of the fatalities involve some variation of “not following the laws” simply because nobody does. We need crosswalks enforced by spikes that pop up from the ground or something similarly draconian to get people to wake up. The US mostly (but not completely) solved the school bus problem (people passing a bus dropping off children) by having exce…

>The US mostly (but not completely) solved the school bus problem (people passing a bus dropping off children) by having exceptionally hard penalties and enforcing them significantly for the first few months. They also changed bus routing best practice to alter the sorts of stops that were causing the bulk of the passing. Like for example right side stops on roads divided by any sort of median are avoided where possi…

That also had the side effect of moving the stops to side streets; rarely if ever are the “commuting roads” stopped by schoolbusses anymore. Which makes it nicer tot drive, too.

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

#168

Post by rglullis »

A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 wrote: post #81
rglullis wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is cause and what is effect, and which of those do people can control?

Eh, I guess I am talking to militant anti-SUV people. Allow me to rephrase: - Your environment imposes restrictions upon you - Even if you can control your actions, optimal choice is to move within those restrictions - Doing things that attempt to move outside those restrictions are not optimal - Some people choose the optimal path - Some people are upset that the optimal path is chosen Good grief, why am I bothering…

> Doing things that attempt to move outside those restrictions are not optimal. Some people choose the optimal path.

Optimal for what?

> Some people are upset that the optimal path is chosen.

Person A chooses the "optimal path" (according to whatever definition of "optimal" A has) for their benefit. Their "optimal path" puts person B at risk and forces them to deal with unwanted costs and changes their environment. Do you think that person B is wrong to be upset about the choice of person A or not?

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

#169

Post by dboreham »

pmontra wrote: post #115
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?

Different people.

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

#170

Post by Guid_NewGuid »

hackingonempty wrote: post #4

It 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?

Funnily enough just like guns the reactions in this thread seem to more or less be "no way to stop this says only nation where this happens regularly".
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