funny the "vision zero" attempts in SF have actually caused traffic deaths to go up
Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
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Re: Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
#52Re: Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
#53Oslo has been doing this for years. I wrote a blog post about my learnings there - "Engineering over enforcement": > Enforcement philosophy is rooted in the idea that behavior can be controlled by threatening punishments. Engineering philosophy believes that infrastructure can be designed to incentivize desired behavior. When Oslo sought to reduce pedestrian deaths, it turned to engineers. > [ . . .] Intersections ar…
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not sure why you're getting downvoted. Traffic deaths in SF definitely went up after "Vision Zero" was implemented
Re: Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
I call them SUV/pickup truck sellers or reasonably-sized-vehicle killers. Alternatively, greenhouse-gas bumps. Dunno which genius in my town put them on a road riddled with potholes, poorly filled road cuts and marsh-related unevenness.
We should return to the original double-humped design from Compton: https://libanswers.wustl.edu/faq/76174?ref=contraption.co
Or non-newtonian fluid speedbumps that are soft when hit with light stress and hard when hit with a lot of stress
https://www.jalopnik.com/these-speed-bumps-only-turn-solid-i...
Probably highly temperature dependent or get stabbed with a knife in 2.3 hours depleting its reserve of non-newtonian goo.
Re: Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Greed is good! Anything that's not greed is socialism and we can't have that now, can we.
I find it amusing that people will quote the "Greed is Good" speech by Gordon Gecko, and they will do it unironically, I guess forgetting that he's the villain in that movie. You're not supposed to agree with him.
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Re: Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
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I'm confused: what didn't work in Seattle/SF/Portland? Enforcement didn't work because people won't follow the law anyway or engineering didn't work because people tried to drive through the obstacles or approach them with the same speed and smashed/smooshed more?
SF tried a multi-front approach called "Vision Zero". I think initially deaths went down for a couple years but then ticked back up. No, people aren't (usually) driving through obstacles.
Re: Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.elkandelk.com/washington/seattle-car-accident-st... Since it started in 2015, accidents are down 50%, but deaths up 90%. This analysis leaves a lot to be desired. I didn't see per-capita stats (Seattle had massive growth during a lot of those years), and we don't really enforce traffic laws at all anyway, so IDK what to think without digging in further.
How have average car sizes and weight changed in this period of time?
You're asking the wrong question. The answer is 10%
The interesting question is power-to-weight, which was (apparently) a direct result of EPA regulations that were enacted in 1975. The below article, which I found from a search engine copying your question and looking at a few results, is an interesting read.
Ignoring all that, the actual question would be: how have car sizes and weights changed _in this region_ during this period of time. Sizes and weights of cars in brasil have little bearing to accidents in the PNW, for example.
https://carbuzz.com/new-vehicles-bigger-heavier-more-powerfu...
Re: Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
#58Meanwhile, pedestrian deaths are up in all the large coastal US cities that went full-on with the "Zero Vision" policies. Seattle, Portland, SF enshittified their roads, limited the traffic speed, choked the streets with bike lanes, drank all the KoolAid. Yet the deaths _increased_.
Where are your stats from? Pedestrian deaths across the US are at near all-time highs, but in contrast SF reports drops: https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2026/pedestrian-fatalit...
Population in SF is also decreasing by large single digit numbers.
Re: Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
#59It is sad how little U.S. voters seem to care about anyone but themselves. Near everything the Finns are dong could be done in here, but too many voices would complain about the cost, the paternalism, or how they might be slightly inconvenienced. Those seem like harder challenges then the changes themselves.
Greed is good! Anything that's not greed is socialism and we can't have that now, can we.
This but unironically. If it wasn’t for greed we would be in the caves still.
Re: Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
#60Meanwhile, pedestrian deaths are up in all the large coastal US cities that went full-on with the "Zero Vision" policies. Seattle, Portland, SF enshittified their roads, limited the traffic speed, choked the streets with bike lanes, drank all the KoolAid. Yet the deaths _increased_.
We can certainly guess that person who thinks "Vision Zero" is actually "Zero Vision" isn't great on details.