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Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

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Re: Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

#61

Post by konschubert »

giantg2 wrote: post #55
konschubert wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even a reduction by a factor 10 means thousands of fathers every year who do not have to explain to their children that mommy won't come home tonight.

Ok...? I'm seeing a lot of emotional comments that are not following the comment chains on this post. Are you meaningfully engaging in the conversation or trying to hijack them?

I am fairly emotional about this but I don't think my comments are off-topic or unfair.

I find it incredibly frustrating how we as a society have accepted the high number of traffic deaths as a fact of nature. Imagine we had the technology to reduce childhood cancer rates by 50%, but chose not to use it.

Traffic accidents kill more children than cancer. And we have the technology to reduce them: GPS-based speed limiters, automatic breaking system, speed bumps, red light cameras.

Yet we choose not to act because ... people think that would be too uptight?

Re: Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

#62

Post by jcgrillo »

photochemsyn wrote: post #14

The safest driving speed on busy roads is the speed everyone else is going. If everyone would drive this way, overtaking accidents (often very serious injury-wise) would be eliminated. This means slow drivers are just as dangerous as fast drivers, and also points to why self-driving cars would greatly reduce highway accidents. Assuming they'd all be monitoring each other's speeds, they could coordinate like swarms of…

Another possibility that's fun to imagine in a world where every car is self-driving and connected to all the other cars is traffic meshing at speed (say, 25mph) through intersections. You wouldn't need traffic lights anymore, because the vehicles would be able to set their spacing and velocity correctly to avoid colliding. Unfortunately, self driving cars can barely figure out how to merge onto a freeway so we may be some decades away still.

Re: Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

#63

Post by bagels »

If you die, this doesn't increase trip length. I'm not sure I'd care how long it took if I were dead even if it did.

When the trip is completed successfully, you've arrived sooner and the habit of speeding will only then affect risk on future trips, there is no post facto cost (ignoring automated speed traps).

Re: Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

#64

Post by marcandre »

screye wrote: post #38
alexwhb wrote: post #16

While the methods in this post may not be a super accurate depiction of reality.. I did find it entertaining. Additionally I agree generally with the point the post is making. It is shocking to me that we accept so whole heartedly the risk associated with driving when, comparatively, it is shockingly unsafe relative to other modes of transportation. In the US somewhere around 41,000 people die per year from traffic a…

> ballpark of 32x safer That number (edit: rail deaths) feels too high. Other than major train collisions/derailments, is it even possible to die because of trains ? > In 2022, more than two-thirds (69 %) of these fatalities in the EU were caused by 'accidents to persons by rolling stock in motion', typically involving persons who are unauthorised on the railway tracks and are hit by a running train. Together with le…

You meant "That number feels too low"

Re: Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

#65

Post by m1n1 »

Driving aggressively occasionally causes others to slam on the brakes to avoid accidents, which creates standing waves also known as traffic jams. So speeding at least slows everyone else down.

Re: Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

#67

Post by bagels »

giantg2 wrote: post #17

This is idiotic. The penalty wouldn't apply to the trip if you didn't incur it (die) during the trip. Also, as they noted, there are a bunch of other factors. Some of those factors are equally or more important as the ones they are looking at, such as alcohol impairment (both about 30% of traffic fatalities). The biggest fatality risk factor is not being buckled in. About 45% of all occupant fatalities are people who…

I found the same thing when researching motorcycle fatality rates. Yes, they are dangerous, but something like 50% of fatalities involved a drunk motorcycle rider. I don't recall the stats for not wearing gear.

Re: Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

#68

Post by toast0 »

alexwhb wrote: post #16

While the methods in this post may not be a super accurate depiction of reality.. I did find it entertaining. Additionally I agree generally with the point the post is making. It is shocking to me that we accept so whole heartedly the risk associated with driving when, comparatively, it is shockingly unsafe relative to other modes of transportation. In the US somewhere around 41,000 people die per year from traffic a…

It's hard to compare the risks of personal vehicles and door to door trips with the risks of rails and planes and maybe even city busses.

I'm pretty sure door to door personal planes would be a lot more risky than door to door personal cars.

As a cyclist, I've personally been injured by rail infrastructure and never by cars. So I'm more worried about street car projects with rails in the road than I am about cars. (Although, I certainly check for unexpected cars more than I check for unexpected rails.)

Re: Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

#69

Post by antiquark »

kragen wrote: post #20
alexwhb wrote: post #16

While the methods in this post may not be a super accurate depiction of reality.. I did find it entertaining. Additionally I agree generally with the point the post is making. It is shocking to me that we accept so whole heartedly the risk associated with driving when, comparatively, it is shockingly unsafe relative to other modes of transportation. In the US somewhere around 41,000 people die per year from traffic a…

i just spent three hours on the bus today and i would much rather have spent an hour in a car instead, though my risk of dying would surely be higher there are a lot of places within 100 km of my house that i'd enjoy visiting but where public transport doesn't go. if i had a car, i could go there easily. if that means shortening my life expectancy by 20 minutes, that seems like a worthwhile tradeoff. the risk i'd be…

I've instructed my kids to avoid public transit, and drive as much as possible, for totally different reasons....

https://nypost.com/2022/10/11/nyc-subway-murders-jump-to-hig...

Re: Speeding Slows You Down (By a Lot)

#70

Post by screye »

marcandre wrote: post #64
screye wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ballpark of 32x safer That number (edit: rail deaths) feels too high. Other than major train collisions/derailments, is it even possible to die because of trains ? > In 2022, more than two-thirds (69 %) of these fatalities in the EU were caused by 'accidents to persons by rolling stock in motion', typically involving persons who are unauthorised on the railway tracks and are hit by a running train. Together with le…

You meant "That number feels too low"

Yep, I have phrased it badly. Meant that the rail death number feels too high.

clarified. thanks

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