Earlier quoted context omitted.
This seems insane. Especially the later exception.
It's not. If you're riding in a cab, there's no way you have a baby carrier handy.
The cab could keep one in the trunk...
John Nash Has Died
81–90 of 265 posts
Re: John Nash Has Died
#82Such a tragic loss. Like many people, I never wore a seatbelt while riding in a taxi. I'm not really sure why, it just seemed somehow to be the social norm and I went along with it. Then one day, my co-worker and his girlfriend were both severely injured while in an accident crossing the east river in manhattan. Ever since then, I've gotten in the habit of using my seatbelt while in a taxi, car, bus, or whatever. Som…
I am always using the seatbelt. I recently realized that when you are on the backseat of a car, by buckling up you are protecting the person in front of you. In case of an accident applying your weight to the one in the seat in front of you might cause more damage than the accident itself.
A few years ago there was a series of adverts in the UK advertising exactly this danger. You might think you're OK with only a broken nose, but you've just crushed the person in front of you to death.
Sorry to sound so melodramatic, but I think that was the point of the advert!
Re: John Nash Has Died
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm going to start buckling up in cabs now. Same as wearing earplugs at clubs, you might get weird looks, but it's better to be uncool than dead (or living with tinnitus).
Unless you're working in a club or going there very frequently, I'm not sure wearing earplugs is going to make a big difference Edit: see below for a better definition of frequently
In my case, in college, I would go to a club or show that was hearing-damaging probably at least once a week. Hundreds of shows a year, so I think that would qualify as very frequently as you say.
One of my friends was in a band and over the years that I knew him, I noticed he started to mix down his own music recordings hotter and hotter on the treble. I asked him why he was doing that and he said "I don't know, this is just how it sounds good to me." Later I realized that he probably has hearing damage and doesn't realize how much treble is in the mix for normal ears.
Keep in mind that 85db for sustained periods of time is the low end where noise induced hearing loss can begin. That's not really that loud. It's likely that your headphones can crank out over 100db and many people work in environments with loud, constant ambient noise.
Re: John Nash Has Died
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I _always_ buckle up, even in bus. I've gotten looks from taxi drives in south Europe for this, they treat it as an insult. I feel it's better to insult than be dead. Afaik since you get fined quite severely in Norway where I live (and most of Europe) if you don't wear a seat belt, the rate of use is much higher than the US. He will be missed. Hopefully it can put focus on such a simple thing to save lives.
Here's a fun fact: the yellow school busses most North Americans get trucked to school in usually don't have seatbelts. The reason is that they follow a different school of thought regarding safety. The basic idea is that instead of giving everyone seatbelts that unruly kids won't adjust properly and will use to whack each other's teeth out, you make really high padded seats so that in the case of an accident the pas…
A counterexample to the notion that seat backs are good enough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0JlqtntMt0
Re: John Nash Has Died
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
I _always_ buckle up, even in bus. I've gotten looks from taxi drives in south Europe for this, they treat it as an insult. I feel it's better to insult than be dead. Afaik since you get fined quite severely in Norway where I live (and most of Europe) if you don't wear a seat belt, the rate of use is much higher than the US. He will be missed. Hopefully it can put focus on such a simple thing to save lives.
Here's a fun fact: the yellow school busses most North Americans get trucked to school in usually don't have seatbelts. The reason is that they follow a different school of thought regarding safety. The basic idea is that instead of giving everyone seatbelts that unruly kids won't adjust properly and will use to whack each other's teeth out, you make really high padded seats so that in the case of an accident the pas…
Wouldn't they have done better to have rear facing seats?
Re: John Nash Has Died
#86It is always strange when people who have had an outsized impact upon others die. Prof. Nash wasn't just someone who was killed in a traffic accident. He was someone who touched the lives of many, many people in surprising ways. His work itself has a large sphere of influence that will exist without him, but I'm talking about a more personal kind of influence. He was an example of living to who you could be regardless of what was broken inside of you or what was "missing."
When I was a teenager, I had the good fortune of attending a lecture by Prof. Nash. Although I did not have the maturity to truly grasp what he was trying to explain - the event did influence my later life. I started reading up about him and his struggles with his schizophrenia, the work he wanted to do, the fears he had of never achieving it, and how despite everything he ended up manifesting his work anyway. This influenced my own struggle with teenage depression and made me realise that there was probably more I could contribute beyond the seemingly staunch limits of my own mind. That altered my life trajectory in a "tiny" but measurable way, so that I - a complete stranger - feel moved by the loss.
I'm sure he stands for so much more to so many people and that's a testament to the power of a life well lived.
Re: John Nash Has Died
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
The state punishing people for not wearing seatbelts represents the idea that people need to be protected from themselves, by force. If we go along that road, what's next? Should police officers be everywhere, ready to snatch a beer from an adult's hand if he seems to have had "too much" to drink already? What's too much? How do you know? The Nannier a state gets, the closer you are to complete tyranny. Instead, we c…
Didn't wear a seatbelt and headbutted the person in front, snapping their neck. Sucks to be them, I guess. But at least you stuck it to the man.
Alright, you got me. Now imagine you being the only person in the car and try again.
Re: John Nash Has Died
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
The state punishing people for not wearing seatbelts represents the idea that people need to be protected from themselves, by force. If we go along that road, what's next? Should police officers be everywhere, ready to snatch a beer from an adult's hand if he seems to have had "too much" to drink already? What's too much? How do you know? The Nannier a state gets, the closer you are to complete tyranny. Instead, we c…
Seatbelts protect other passengers in the car. People are terrible at assessing risk and they probably need a gentle legislative push for some things, like seatbelts.
Alright. Often there's only one person in the car though, and what I said applies to other things too.
Re: John Nash Has Died
#89The culture around seatbelts in the US confounds me. As an Australian I've spent my entire life wearing seatbelts. It's second nature. I don't even think about it. Taxis or otherwise. In fact I think it's required in all cases. But in the US people seem to view the choice to turn a mild car accident into a severe or even fatal one as some kind of moral stance or personal freedom. Or rather any effort to require their…
The state punishing people for not wearing seatbelts represents the idea that people need to be protected from themselves, by force. If we go along that road, what's next? Should police officers be everywhere, ready to snatch a beer from an adult's hand if he seems to have had "too much" to drink already? What's too much? How do you know? The Nannier a state gets, the closer you are to complete tyranny. Instead, we c…
It's a bit of a stretch to say that seatbelt tickets lead to tyranny--driving's mostly a privilege not a right. Seatbelts can affect other people due to an inability to control the vehicle after a collision, more likely use of emergency resources, etc. I generally agree with the sentiment about nanny states, though
Re: John Nash Has Died
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least in manhattan, the yellow-taxi cab Taxi and Limousine Commission (the TLC I mentioned above) lobbied have an exemption to that law. Same thing with baby carriers. It's illegal to have a baby in a car without a certified car seat, but it's legal in a NYC taxi to just hold them: http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/faq/faq_pass.shtml#9
This seems insane. Especially the later exception.
Why? It would be a major hassle otherwise when visiting cities like SF or NYC if you are not planning to rent a car (if you are, you might be carrying a car seat). I wouldn't be comfortable using a random carseat in the trunk, and in any case, given different age kids require different carseats, it's not really feasible.