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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

#351

Post by cyberax »

woodruffw wrote: post #253
cyberax wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At the same time NYC and Toronto, we are removing protected bike lanes. In North America the acceptable amount of lives per year to sacrifice for a little convenience for drivers is above zero, and apparently rising. BTW, what do you think about the 5-10 extra lifetimes that people in NYC collectively waste _every_ _day_ in commute compared to smaller cities? A well-designed car-oriented city will have commutes of…

You've sort of given it away with the "smaller cities" thing. People who live in NYC don't want to live in a smaller American-style city with suburban sprawl. (You've also glossed over the more painful statistic: for every lifetime-equivalent lost on mass transit inefficiencies, there are hundreds lost to gridlock in NYC. That number, already terrible, would be far worse without the city's mass transit -- you simply…

I mean, I don't hide my despair at large cities. They're destroying the fabric of the Western civilization by acting as black holes for population.

> You've also glossed over the more painful statistic: for every lifetime-equivalent lost on mass transit inefficiencies, there are hundreds lost to gridlock in NYC.

Here's the thing. A well-designed human-oriented city like Houston has FASTER commutes than ANY similar-sized city in Europe.

The fix for cities like NYC is to stop building them and start de-densifying them.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#352

Post by efitz »

> More than half of Helsinki’s streets now have speed limits of 30 km/h. Fifty years ago, the majority were limited to 50 km/h

For us metric-impaired, 30 km/h ~ 19 mph.

In the United States, school zones with children present are generally 15-25mph. fit adult humans run at 8-9 mph.

If it works for Finns and they like it, great. Americans would not accept speed limits so low.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#353

Post by coccinelle »

derektank wrote: post #224
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?

It was a decision intended to foster racial and socioeconomic diversity, adopted in 2020[1]. It will likely be reversed in the 2026/2027 school year[2] [1] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WxAVUXfKCdhSlFa8rYZqTBC-Zmz... [2] https://www.sfusd.edu/schools/enroll/student-assignment-poli...

The lottery has been around since way before 2020, I believe. You do get preferential assignment to one school close to you. Most schools can take in all the kids that have this neighborhood preference but I believe there are a couple that don’t. (This is for Kindergarten, TK is more of a mess).

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#354

Post by lbschenkel »

Saline9515 wrote: post #222
Muromec wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take better from both worlds -- 1 hour bike commute and save on healthcare costs too.

Very entitled comment. The food worker who has to stand up for the whole day to make your matcha frappuccino could enjoy some rest on the way home.

Another problem that exists only in the US as they don't treat you as a slave and make you stand the whole day elsewhere. People have chairs and do use them.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#355

Post by jcgl »

matsemann wrote: post #177

What kills in my city is mostly trucks. Yes, we need them to get goods to stores. But we don't need the bigass trucks with zero vision to haul goods inside a city. I look forward to Direct Vision Standard being mandatory. Trucks in cities should be built more like city buses. The hut low and with windows all around.

It seems like European trucks with their cab-over-engine design generally have far better visibility than their American counterparts. Not to mention the fact that they’re often smaller and more maneuverable.

Where I live in Europe, I’m always impressed to see how well these trucks are able to function in mixed-use areas. Never would have seen this where I grew up in the US.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#356

Post by RamblingCTO »

efitz wrote: post #352

> More than half of Helsinki’s streets now have speed limits of 30 km/h. Fifty years ago, the majority were limited to 50 km/h For us metric-impaired, 30 km/h ~ 19 mph. In the United States, school zones with children present are generally 15-25mph. fit adult humans run at 8-9 mph. If it works for Finns and they like it, great. Americans would not accept speed limits so low.

> If it works for Finns and they like it, great. Americans would not accept speed limits so low.

European cities are way denser though. So you have less view of the area because of smaller streets and very densely parked cars. I found the limits in the US comparable to what I'd drive in Germany in cities. Maybe Sedona is a one off, but it felt very familiar. For me, wider roads and better view means I can drive 50-55kmh and that's what the limits were. Smaller and denser street means 25-30kmh which is around 15-20mph? We even have the "you can make a right turn at red after coming to a full stop" with a special sign (a green arrow). So I think the speed limits are ok and it doesn't feel too different for me. What is not ok is the rampant ignorance towards laws. Red light and stop runners in bigger cities and such. Lots of bad drivers out there.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#357

Post by masklinn »

cyberax wrote: post #351
woodruffw wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've sort of given it away with the "smaller cities" thing. People who live in NYC don't want to live in a smaller American-style city with suburban sprawl. (You've also glossed over the more painful statistic: for every lifetime-equivalent lost on mass transit inefficiencies, there are hundreds lost to gridlock in NYC. That number, already terrible, would be far worse without the city's mass transit -- you simply…

I mean, I don't hide my despair at large cities. They're destroying the fabric of the Western civilization by acting as black holes for population. > You've also glossed over the more painful statistic: for every lifetime-equivalent lost on mass transit inefficiencies, there are hundreds lost to gridlock in NYC. Here's the thing. A well-designed human-oriented city like Houston has FASTER commutes than ANY similar-si…

> well-designed human-oriented city like Houston

Said no urban planner in the history of urban planning. Or NJB (https://youtu.be/uxykI30fS54)

> FASTER commutes than ANY similar-sized city in Europe.

Houston ranks 7th worst traffic in the US. The internet tells me you’re boasting of 30mn for an “average 6 miles commute”. That’s bicycle distance and speed that you need to drive due to a broken city.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#358

Post by flyingjoe »

efitz wrote: post #352

> More than half of Helsinki’s streets now have speed limits of 30 km/h. Fifty years ago, the majority were limited to 50 km/h For us metric-impaired, 30 km/h ~ 19 mph. In the United States, school zones with children present are generally 15-25mph. fit adult humans run at 8-9 mph. If it works for Finns and they like it, great. Americans would not accept speed limits so low.

Also Americans drive cars that have a much higher probability to kill pedestrians and will go everywhere by car (instead of walking, biking or taking public transport) due to their city architecture.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#359

Post by devjab »

throwaway9832 wrote: post #278
sophia01 wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The UK is not that different by comparison. Do note that the UK is 15.6x as dense as Finland, and the climate is quite different: e.g. in Helsinki (southermost city) mean daily temperature is below freezing point 4/12 months of the year (very consequential for driving). E.g. in Scotland even the mean daily minimum does not cross freezing point in any month. OECD data has Finland at 0.36 fatalities per 10k vehicles…

[flagged]

I see that you're not from Scandinavia. Here in Denmark the weeks around the first frost are infamous for people crashing in heaps because they were too slow to get their winter tires on and drove as usual. People here generally overestimate their ability to drive in bad weather, likely because we have so much of it.

Re: Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

#360

Post by paffdragon »

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…

Funny, but that was my impression of UK when I first visited (like 20 years ago). Cones, everywhere cones. As opposed to what I was used to in Eastern Europe where people just jumped off a car with shovels in the middle of the crossroads to fill a hole while drivers tried to navigate around them.
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