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If you'll permit a tangent, there are a lot of drunk pedestrian fatalities. I don't think we talk enough about the risk of drunk walking. Over one third of pe

If you'll permit a tangent, there are a lot of drunk pedestrian fatalities. I don't think we talk enough about the risk of drunk walking. Over one third of pedestrians killed in the US each year have been drinking too much to drive. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/05/drunk-pedestrian-fatalities/2621673/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/05/drunk-...

catalogia 7y ago
How much of this is due to the immediate physiological effects of alcohol (e.g. impaired reaction time, etc) and how much of it is chronic depressed alcoholics disregarding their own well-being and possibly committing suicide? I've walked home drunk from bars more than a few times and I've never experienced any trouble using crosswalks like normal. I'm pretty certain it's much safer than driving home drunk (not that I drive to bars in the first place.)
- fiblye 7y ago
  Driving at night down narrow streets, I've had some people pop out from behind a wall in front of me. Fortunately everyone involved has always had good reaction times, so I don't think I've killed anybody yet. Somebody who's not really thinking, or just stumbling around and being goofy. Lots of people including myself have said "DUDE wouldn't it be funny if we did [X incredibly stupid thing]?" while unreasonably drunk. Normally calm people start fights with people who can clearly kick their ass after a couple drinks. Probably a few think they can take on or play chicken with a car. Some people also just blink for a second and suddenly they're asleep, if they have enough drinks. Depression may be a cause, but honest accidents and impaired thinking are definitely big reasons.
  - pvorb 7y ago
    > I don't think I've killed anybody yet If you can't tell for sure, are you certain that you weren't drunk yourself?
- cam_l 7y ago
  I lived in a small town that at the time had the highest number of fatalities in the state for both drunk walking and rail crossing deaths. And though it was the kind of town that would make you want to top yourself, i think the real reason was there was a pub on either side of the tracks.
- agapon 7y ago
  I personally witnessed more than once (and intervened) drunk people appearing to try getting themselves killed by traffic, like erratically running onto a road. Once I also saw a too drunk person that tried to cross a street (outside of a crossing), tripped over, fell to the ground and just passed out.
MiroF 7y ago
Not a statistic that's great to pass around but I have read that drunk pedestrian walking is more dangerous than drunk driving (to the driver). Taking an uber is always the move.
- LilBytes 7y ago
  I'm fairly certain these exact statistics are spoken and quoted in Super Freakonomics, or maybe the first Freakanomics.
- bryanrasmussen 7y ago
  I sort of wonder if that is heavily dependent on country or area, I mean drunk pedestrian walking in Los Angeles might be more dangerous than in Copenhagen.
  - erk__ 7y ago
    Kind of anadotical but the only time I have been around someone who got run into in Copenhagen they were visible drunk. Though I don't have any stats I can pull up.
- garborg 7y ago
  Perhaps reading Super Freakonomics? Rehashed here: https://freakonomics.com/2011/12/28/the-perils-of-drunk-walking/ https://freakonomics.com/2011/12/28/the-perils-of-drunk-walk... Google will provide people who don't like assumptions made in Levitt's math. Disclaimer -- I did research for Levitt and John List when I was planning to go for an Econ PhD, but on nothing related to drunk driving.
  - MiroF 7y ago
    Likely, but it's been long enough that I don't remember.
adrianN 7y ago
I don't think you want to discourage drunk walking because that will lead to more drunk driving which is a lot more dangerous to other people.
- nostromo 7y ago
  I'm not encouraging drunk driving, but rather getting an Uber. Or at the very least, to walk cautiously after having several drinks.
- nine_k 7y ago
  Both drunk driving and drunk walking near a road should be very much discouraged. Hailing a cab should be encouraged instead. No, being outside so drunk that you can't control yourself enough to correctly cross a street is not a "not a big deal".
dangus 7y ago
I actually think this article makes the statistics seem worse by than they are by presenting them in a way that is easy to misunderstand. Okay so a third of all pedestrian fatalities have been over the driving limit of alcohol, as the article points out. That sounds horrible. It sounds like you should never drink and walk, ever. Thing is, there were only 1,547 pedestrian walking deaths in the whole 311 million person country in 2011. That same year there were 32,479 automotive fatalities. Throw in liver disease victims[1] and you’re looking at maybe a 1:60 ratio of pedestrian walking to every other kind of alcohol death. More people actually die of “natural heat and cold” than alcohol related pedestrian accidents. Alcohol is generally bad as we all know, and leads to all kinds of bad health outcomes, but I’d argue that pedestrian accidents are the least concern if we are to prioritize. [1] There’s a bit of a silent fatty liver disease crisis going on, but that’s just obesity doing its thing. I’d love to see more urgent action on obesity.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Cthulhu_ 7y ago
Isn't that also because of how the US seems to be mostly designed for driving, not so much for pedestrians or cyclists? I mean I was in a suburb in Michigan once, walking to a nearby shop there were just no sidewalks.
- fabioborellini 7y ago
  Only drivers are considered human in the Shithole of A.

catalogia 7y ago

How much of this is due to the immediate physiological effects of alcohol (e.g. impaired reaction time, etc) and how much of it is chronic depressed alcoholics disregarding their own well-being and possibly committing suicide? I've walked home drunk from bars more than a few times and I've never experienced any trouble using crosswalks like normal. I'm pretty certain it's much safer than driving home drunk (not that I drive to bars in the first place.)

fiblye 7y ago
Driving at night down narrow streets, I've had some people pop out from behind a wall in front of me. Fortunately everyone involved has always had good reaction times, so I don't think I've killed anybody yet. Somebody who's not really thinking, or just stumbling around and being goofy. Lots of people including myself have said "DUDE wouldn't it be funny if we did [X incredibly stupid thing]?" while unreasonably drunk. Normally calm people start fights with people who can clearly kick their ass after a couple drinks. Probably a few think they can take on or play chicken with a car. Some people also just blink for a second and suddenly they're asleep, if they have enough drinks. Depression may be a cause, but honest accidents and impaired thinking are definitely big reasons.
- pvorb 7y ago
  > I don't think I've killed anybody yet If you can't tell for sure, are you certain that you weren't drunk yourself?
cam_l 7y ago
I lived in a small town that at the time had the highest number of fatalities in the state for both drunk walking and rail crossing deaths. And though it was the kind of town that would make you want to top yourself, i think the real reason was there was a pub on either side of the tracks.
agapon 7y ago
I personally witnessed more than once (and intervened) drunk people appearing to try getting themselves killed by traffic, like erratically running onto a road. Once I also saw a too drunk person that tried to cross a street (outside of a crossing), tripped over, fell to the ground and just passed out.

MiroF 7y ago

Not a statistic that's great to pass around but I have read that drunk pedestrian walking is more dangerous than drunk driving (to the driver). Taking an uber is always the move.

LilBytes 7y ago
I'm fairly certain these exact statistics are spoken and quoted in Super Freakonomics, or maybe the first Freakanomics.
bryanrasmussen 7y ago
I sort of wonder if that is heavily dependent on country or area, I mean drunk pedestrian walking in Los Angeles might be more dangerous than in Copenhagen.
- erk__ 7y ago
  Kind of anadotical but the only time I have been around someone who got run into in Copenhagen they were visible drunk. Though I don't have any stats I can pull up.
garborg 7y ago
Perhaps reading Super Freakonomics? Rehashed here: https://freakonomics.com/2011/12/28/the-perils-of-drunk-walking/ https://freakonomics.com/2011/12/28/the-perils-of-drunk-walk... Google will provide people who don't like assumptions made in Levitt's math. Disclaimer -- I did research for Levitt and John List when I was planning to go for an Econ PhD, but on nothing related to drunk driving.
- MiroF 7y ago
  Likely, but it's been long enough that I don't remember.

adrianN 7y ago

I don't think you want to discourage drunk walking because that will lead to more drunk driving which is a lot more dangerous to other people.

nostromo 7y ago
I'm not encouraging drunk driving, but rather getting an Uber. Or at the very least, to walk cautiously after having several drinks.
nine_k 7y ago
Both drunk driving and drunk walking near a road should be very much discouraged. Hailing a cab should be encouraged instead. No, being outside so drunk that you can't control yourself enough to correctly cross a street is not a "not a big deal".

dangus 7y ago

I actually think this article makes the statistics seem worse by than they are by presenting them in a way that is easy to misunderstand. Okay so a third of all pedestrian fatalities have been over the driving limit of alcohol, as the article points out. That sounds horrible. It sounds like you should never drink and walk, ever. Thing is, there were only 1,547 pedestrian walking deaths in the whole 311 million person country in 2011. That same year there were 32,479 automotive fatalities. Throw in liver disease victims[1] and you’re looking at maybe a 1:60 ratio of pedestrian walking to every other kind of alcohol death. More people actually die of “natural heat and cold” than alcohol related pedestrian accidents. Alcohol is generally bad as we all know, and leads to all kinds of bad health outcomes, but I’d argue that pedestrian accidents are the least concern if we are to prioritize. [1] There’s a bit of a silent fatty liver disease crisis going on, but that’s just obesity doing its thing. I’d love to see more urgent action on obesity.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

Cthulhu_ 7y ago

Isn't that also because of how the US seems to be mostly designed for driving, not so much for pedestrians or cyclists? I mean I was in a suburb in Michigan once, walking to a nearby shop there were just no sidewalks.

fabioborellini 7y ago
Only drivers are considered human in the Shithole of A.