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Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

helsinkitimes.fi

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Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#331

Post by lettuceconstant »

shkkmo wrote: post #230
mattlondon wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scooters kill people too (often the drivers themselves but not always). The problem with escooters is that basically any accident is "bad" since you have no protection while you toodle along at 15.5mph. Not just slamming into the ground, but into street furniture, trees, building, bikes - you name it. A helmet (which no one wears) is not going to help you if you wrap your abdomen around a solid metal bench at 15.5mph…

> The problem with escooters is that basically any accident is "bad" Factually false. Out of well over 1000 annual collosions in GB in 2023 there were a a handful of deaths but they were all the e-scooter riders. > The real world has a lot of hard sticky-out bits (and perhaps ironically cars don't due to crash testing rules, The most dangerous parts of the streets for scooters are the cars, not the other "sticky-out"…

I don't know about the situation in your city, but there problem really is that a comparatively large portion of e-scooter drivers are either idiots or drunk and idiots.

At least here they should follow same traffic rules as bikes, but it's very common to see them driving amid pedestrians. Of course, no gear present whatsoever. The average scooter accident is also more serious than the average cycling accident with head injuries being particularly common. Even if the typical victim is the driver himself, that does not make e-scooters great for the city.

We already have city bikes here and it would be societally much preferable if people were just using those instead.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#332

Post by throwaway9832 »

muteh wrote: post #295
throwaway9832 wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10 is plenty old enough to drive under supervision. We used to send people to war at 16. The idea of stopping people from driving until 18 is infantilisation.

Read your comment. Read the parent. Yeah, we used to kill kids. Personally I think we shouldn’t have.

[flagged]

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#333

Post by jrflowers »

tlogan wrote: post #234
pantalaimon wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of policy is that based on? Seems very counter intuitive, aren't are supposed to meet your classmates after school?

Essentially, this was the cheapest solution for our “limousine liberals” to address the problem of racial and economic segregation in San Francisco’s public schools. The idea was simple: since schools in areas like Hunter’s Point struggle, while those in neighborhoods like the Sunset perform well, the district decided to send students from Hunter’s Point to Sunset schools, and vice versa in order to “balance” outcome…

> Essentially, this was the cheapest solution for our “limousine liberals” to address the problem of racial and economic segregation in San Francisco’s public schools

It is frustrating to see this happen when —while it would be more expensive— they could’ve dealt with that by just

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#334

Post by bitmasher9 »

Ray20 wrote: post #280
perching_aix wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't claim to have the perfect definition for authoritarian behavior, but I would say that intending to consolidate authority is pretty key to it. Which making drivers' life miserable isn't really connected to, or at least I really don't see it. Otherwise, the typical government is a central authority made up of people, carrying out lawmaking, adjudication, and enforcement activities [0], and so basically all of t…

In my understanding, authoritarianism is not only defined by the desire to strengthen their own power, but also by the desire to bring the way of life of all other people in line with their own moral values. For example, the persecution of homosexuals is widely recognized as an authoritarian behavior and has nothing to do with consolidate of authority

The persecution of homosexuals absolutely has an impact on consolidating authority.

* Some of your political opponents will be homosexual, so it gives you an avenue to remove them. You can turn a blind eye to your political allies, if they are discrete.

* You can use the accusation to persecute anyone.

* It sets the frame that the authority governs every private aspect of your life.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#335

Post by franga2000 »

throwaway9832 wrote: post #327
squidgyhead wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speed enforcement has been extensively studied, and there are a lot of publicly available articles on the subject. The results are basically universally in favour of speed enforcement reducing motor vehicle collisions, reducing injury and cost.

[flagged]

Where did anyone say that???

As for trucks having the same speed limit as cars in general: 1) a lot of the time there is a lower limit, 2) the truck itself has a lower max highway speed, 3) there a far fewer trucks on the road so it doesn't matter a much, 4) they are driven by professional drivers with things like electronically enforced daily driving limits, so many of the common causes of accidents are less likely.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#338

Post by zahlman »

bravesoul2 wrote: post #260

I wonder if speed control of 50 to 30 km/h makes journeys faster in a city where you will hit traffic and traffic lights anyway. More consistent speeds, less braking.

Removing unnecessary stop lights (they will often become unnecessary when cars can just stop if there are pedestrians crossing, which is much easier from 30 than from 50) and even replacing intersections with roundabouts can make a big difference here (as long as you somehow get a population that understands what a roundabout is, anyway).

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#339

Post by timeon »

tlogan wrote: post #124

Maybe Helsinki isn’t special: just fewer cars. And they apparently only 21% of daily trips used a private car. Helsinki has about 3x fewer vehicles per capita than the average U.S. city. So it’s not surprising it’s safer since fewer cars mean fewer chances of getting hit by one. Plus their cars are much smaller. In fact, there are probably plenty of U.S. towns and cities with similar number of cars that have zero tra…

> Plus their cars are much smaller.

Not smaller then in other European places. It is just that US cars are extremely huge.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#340

Post by bsimpson »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #113

I was in Helsinki for work a couple of years ago, walking back to my hotel with some colleagues after a few hours drinking (incredibly expensive, but quite nice), beer. It was around midnight and we happened to come across a very large mobile crane on the pavement blocking our way. As we stepped out (carefully), into the road to go around it, one of my Finnish colleagues started bemoaning that no cones or barriers ha…

Switzerland has the most pristine roads of anywhere I've ever ridden. They also have a bonkers amount of road construction.
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