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There may be a weak correlation here, but the author doesn't seem to explore it. Other factors to consider when analyzing accidents: Age of driver, Was the

There may be a weak correlation here, but the author doesn't seem to explore it. Other factors to consider when analyzing accidents: Age of driver, Was the driver intoxicated, and (incredibly important for pedestrian accidents) what Time of Day was the accident and what Type of Road was the accident on? The last time I looked at the data, the 2015 FARS data set, the biggest factor in pedestrian deaths seemed to be pedestrians walking at night along roads without a dedicated sidewalk. This happens in rural areas far more than you may think.

MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
Night drivers are the worst. I occasionally jog at night and have a stretch of road where there is no sidewalk. I have reflective gear and a headlamp on. I had someone have the audacity to stop and honk their horn at me because I was jogging in the left lane...which is the lane your supposed to be cause you can see the oncoming traffic.
cycomanic 5y ago
The author not only correlated the increased number of deaths with the increased number of large vehicles around, but also found that there is cities with larger increases in vehicle size had a correlated larger increase in deaths. So essentially there is a correlation on different levels, which is a much stronger indicator for causation. If you are saying this is a spurious causality you should suggest alternative reasons why we should see the correlation. To me it doesn't seem that there should be any reason why cities with increased vehicle sizes should also have increased number of people walking on the roadside without sidewalks. Moreover considering the large numbers we are talking about i would imagine intoxication for example would average out.
frontiersummit 5y ago
I remember looking at the same data some time ago and reaching the same conclusion about accidents at night. Another factor was that the pedestrians themselves are very likely to be intoxicated.
zip1234 5y ago
"the biggest factor in pedestrian deaths seemed to be pedestrians walking at night along roads without a dedicated sidewalk" So... pedestrians existing? It sounds to me that people are driving too fast for the road conditions.

MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago

Night drivers are the worst. I occasionally jog at night and have a stretch of road where there is no sidewalk. I have reflective gear and a headlamp on. I had someone have the audacity to stop and honk their horn at me because I was jogging in the left lane...which is the lane your supposed to be cause you can see the oncoming traffic.

cycomanic 5y ago

The author not only correlated the increased number of deaths with the increased number of large vehicles around, but also found that there is cities with larger increases in vehicle size had a correlated larger increase in deaths. So essentially there is a correlation on different levels, which is a much stronger indicator for causation. If you are saying this is a spurious causality you should suggest alternative reasons why we should see the correlation. To me it doesn't seem that there should be any reason why cities with increased vehicle sizes should also have increased number of people walking on the roadside without sidewalks. Moreover considering the large numbers we are talking about i would imagine intoxication for example would average out.

frontiersummit 5y ago

I remember looking at the same data some time ago and reaching the same conclusion about accidents at night. Another factor was that the pedestrians themselves are very likely to be intoxicated.

zip1234 5y ago

"the biggest factor in pedestrian deaths seemed to be pedestrians walking at night along roads without a dedicated sidewalk" So... pedestrians existing? It sounds to me that people are driving too fast for the road conditions.