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Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

nytimes.com

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Re: Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

#201

Post by giantg2 »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #193
chiefalchemist wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2. More people walking who rarely walked before. The point being, when possible, you should walk facing into traffic. I see people, often enough, walking in the road with traffic. Experienced walkers tend to know this.

Realistically, this should never happen on a halfway busy city road - and by the time you get to neighborhoods, it shouldn't be an issue because of (hopefully) low speeds. We should have sidewalks and other barriers to keep pedestrians safe: Making sure they have the right of way only increases this. The only time someone really would need to walk on the other side is on country roads, and honestly, there is only so…

Just to point out, a sidewalk is not really a barrier. It's easy for a car to hop the curb and kill someone. It can still be a good idea to face traffic so at least you have a chance at dodging (if they're coming from behind you could be able to hear them getting too close to your side; also somewhat less likely that they would drift that far).

Re: Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

#202

Post by agilob »

jpm_sd wrote: post #83

I live in a dense, walkable Boston suburb that is served by the MBTA commuter rail. But it's also full of "Masshole" drivers and adjacent to a couple of high-traffic major highways. I've observed a sharp increase in impatience and road rage, both on our 25 mph city streets, and on and off Rtes 1 and 93, in the last 2 years. Not to mention ever-more inattentive driving with eyes on phones. It's pretty alarming. I don'…

No matter how much you want it to be true, don't think Trump has anything to do with it as I feel the same about attitude on roads in EU countries where I reside.

Re: Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

#203

Post by JKCalhoun »

bitexploder wrote: post #176
stirbot wrote: post #99

While this driver appears to be facing homicide by vehicle charges in addition to fleeing the scene, it is very common in the US for a driver to kill a pedestrian and face no criminal charges or loss of driving privileges as long as they stop and dial 911. While out walking I often think of a quote from a Freakomomics podcast that goes something like 'the best way to get away will killing someone in the US is to hit…

I drove a 1990 Mustang V8 from ‘00-06 or so. It was 0-60 in about 6-flat. So that is a good reference point. Our 4Runner also makes 300hp and is actually sluggish, even by older standards. So not all cars are insane and it is really nice to have efficient 300hp engines for a lot of reasons. My truck makes 500hp and 1000 ft/lbs torque and gets like 18-19 mpg in its stock form. Extremely useful for towing and amazing e…

Anecdotally, when going on walks in my neighborhood, the cars with massive fender damage in the driveways are the modern "muscle cars": the Dodge Charger, new Ford Mustangs....

Are car manufacturers, knowingly or not, selling a reckless lifestyle?

Re: Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

#204

Post by iso1631 »

avianlyric wrote: post #90
gilbetron wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The small US city I live in made such a change, it we had several pedestrians get hit in the first year or so because drivers aren't used to it, can't see people very well, and pedestrians just figured everyone would now just stop. We changed the laws to restrict it to only crosswalks and added in a ton of new crosswalks. Even then, it was still a problem because pedestrians don't realize when someone can see them. I…

You’ve been able to cross a road anywhere since the dawn of time in pretty much the entire of Europe (U.K. included). The changes in Highway Code really just say that cars should give way to pedestrians that are crossing minor roads, while walking down a major road. I.e. the general rule is that all traffic going down a major should wait and give way to continuing traffic, regardless of if it’s a car, bike or pedestr…

> The changes in Highway Code really just say that cars should give way to pedestrians that are crossing minor roads, while walking down a major road.

That was always the case, see Rule 182 from the 2006 version for example

https://web.archive.org/web/20060418012127/http://www.highwa...

"turning at road junctions; give way to pedestrians who are already crossing the road into which you are turning"

The change was you now had to give way to those about to cross the road too

Re: Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

#205

Post by pivo »

Steltek wrote: post #173
jpm_sd wrote: post #83

I live in a dense, walkable Boston suburb that is served by the MBTA commuter rail. But it's also full of "Masshole" drivers and adjacent to a couple of high-traffic major highways. I've observed a sharp increase in impatience and road rage, both on our 25 mph city streets, and on and off Rtes 1 and 93, in the last 2 years. Not to mention ever-more inattentive driving with eyes on phones. It's pretty alarming. I don'…

Boston drivers were cconditioned for perpetual bumper-to-bumper traffic. With traffic levels down, there was no bumper in front of them to slow them down so they just floor it until they find one.

This made me laugh, and might even be true. There were a number of years where we had the highest number of of traffic accidents in the country and yet the lowest related fatalities. That was because traffic was moving so slowly that most accidents were “fender-benders”.

Re: Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

#206

Post by ghaff »

cnity wrote: post #153
giantg2 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have evidence of this? If I'm reading the comments right, the person you're responding to called out rural areas. I believe many rural areas around the world do not have sidewalks (assuming you mean the paved kind) where there are miles between houses.

My comment was tongue-in-cheek. I don't have evidence that all countries on earth have sidewalks in all rural areas. That said -- I was born, raised, and have spent most of my life in rural UK and it would be absolutely preposterous if those areas didn't have pavements.

It absolutely varies. I've done multiple long distance walks in the UK and I've definitely run across areas where's there's not only no sidewalk but a complete lack of shoulder between the road and a hedge or stone wall.

Re: Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

#207

Post by avs733 »

rocgf wrote: post #194
avs733 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sidewalks are an optional extra on road building so...in his defense...you can't build a sidewalk without a road, which makes it significantly more expensive.

I guess you'd have to be European to understand just how ridiculous this sounds.

(it was sarcasm, I honestly went back and forth several times about whether to add an indicator and decided it was unbecoming)

My wife and I are a one car household. On a typical day we both alt commute - I run or bike 7 miles to work and she runs/walks 3-4. We walk our daughter to and from daycare - even in the rain. These are choices we are barely able to make because we live in the near burbs of a pedestrian focused US city.

The US built infrastructure isn't just 'cheap' on pedestrian safety it is actively hostile. There are neighrborhoods that resist sidewalks for 'safety' reasons where safety means - only poor people walk and poor people are criminals. When I used to live in Phoenix Arizona, It would take me both hands to count the number of times i was stopped by police while walking because I was 'suspicious'. I would say I have a scary experience at least once a week alt commuting.

My bike lane to work goes from no bike lane to physically separated rails to trail to protected bike path to just suddenly ending and dumping me into traffic. It is ABSURD. I was once physically talked off my bike by a driver because I yelled at them for driving in the bikelane. The police who responded threatened to cite me for disorderly conduct.

I could go on.

I watch the youtube channel Not Just Bikes as a form of catharsis. I thought I had it good until I saw just how good places like the Netherlands have it.

Re: Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

#208

Post by shkkmo »

dazc wrote: post #61
samwillis wrote: post #34

Here in the UK they have just changed the Highway Code (the rules that given all road users, including pedestrians) so that pedestrians have ultimate right of way in almost all cases. It’s the opposite of the situation in the US, a pedestrian in the UK can cross the road anywhere and I believe cars have to stop and make way. It’s going to be interesting to see how it effects accident numbers, I’m worry it may actuall…

In my experience, if you are in the road then, in the mind of the driver, you should not be there and there are various ways in which they will demonstrate this to you. Ranging from an angry face, at one end of the spectrum, to purposely accelerating towards you, at the other. So, yes, I think you're right, casualties are more likely to increase since few drivers are going to be changing their behaviour any time soon…

I've been yelled multiple times this last year for crossing the road...at a stop light when I had a "walk" light. I always treat cars as if they are trying to kill me, but the levels of callous disregard for the safety and wellbeing of other road users seems like it has reached new highs.

I think we need to get much more proactive about revoking licenses. I am also heavily considering getting a dashcam to start recording and reporting violators.

Re: Pedestrian deaths spike in U.S. as reckless driving surges

#209

Post by jeffbee »

cochne wrote: post #158

Totally anecdotal, but I have noticed a huge uptick of drivers running red lights and stop signs in my area in NY. I have been wondering the reason.

The new thing in Berkeley and Oakland, as of about 2 years ago, is people will pull up on my right at stop lights, as if they are going to turn right, but then they just run the light instead.
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