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America needs to set pedestrian and cyclist safety standards for motor vehicles. Europe has mandated survivability in crashes at certain speeds, but America con

America needs to set pedestrian and cyclist safety standards for motor vehicles. Europe has mandated survivability in crashes at certain speeds, but America continues to believe that the only relevant actor that needs safety in America's transportation network is the driver of their own vehicle. Here's an article from 2007 (!) [1] that talks about how America continues to try to focus on driver education, despite America consistently having some of the laxest drivers' license standards in the Western world. A recipe for a public health disaster indeed. No wonder Americans see anything other than a car as impractical; anyone other than a driver or a passenger is a safety afterthought. EDIT: Here's a more recent take on the same issue. Not much has changed apparently. [2] 1: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2007/12/the-truth-about-europes-pedestrian-safety-legislation/ https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2007/12/the-truth-about-eu... 2: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/12/07/while-other-countries-mandate-safer-car-designs-for-pedestrians-america-does-nothing/ https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/12/07/while-other-countries...

giantg2 5y ago
There has been a push for pedestrian safety. Just look at the plastic bumpers. Didn't the Tesla truck fail its pedestrian test the way it was configured when unveiled? I agree that the driver tests are a joke. 90% of driving is making good decisions, yet there's not any real testing around this - even the driving test is not long enough to observe these behaviors. Instead it focuses on the other 10% of laws and physical ability, and pretty poorly at that (50 multiple choice questions yet hundreds or even thousands of driving related laws and regs).
- makeitdouble 5y ago
  TBF in places where driving is a core component of basic everyday life, raising the bar for getting a license will be a wildly unpopular and potentially life destroying measure. It should totally be done, but needs to come with/after a rework of what the alternatives are for people who’re not fit to drive.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    True. That can also be a chicken or egg thing. It might be good to grandfather existing people and set the bar higher for people being born now. They do this for all sorts of jr driver restrictions, like number of minors I'm the car (that transition happened around the time I started driving).
s0rce 5y ago
Seems like that will never happen since you can basically modify your vehicle without restrictions even in otherwise restrictive states. And trucks just keep getting bigger and more popular.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  How many modified vehicles do you see? Maybe 1:100, 1:1000 something like that? You probably think you see tons because you hate them just like the guy who hates left lane campers would swear that the Tacoma is more numerous than all work vans combined. Modified vehicles are an easy thing to hate but I suspect they're a negligible source of anything when it comes to fatality statistics especially when you consider that the intersection of "people lifting their trucks" and "people who do a lot of driving where there are pedestrians to hit" is pretty small.
  - 29083011397778 5y ago
    This is heavily location-dependent. I grew up one province over, and currently live in Alberta, Canada. Depending on how far one takes the term "modified" (which I take to mean anything not road-legal), it could literally be every other car in the province. I'm sure half the people reading this won't agree, and chalk it up to confirmation bias. But between tinted front driver / passenger windows, license plate "covers" that attempt to defeat speed cameras, lift kits (leading to bumpers above maximum height), improperly-aimed aftermarket lights, and more, I'd be surprised if it was less than 40% of the vehicles on the road.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  this is one of those statements that's 100% true, and yet is a total distraction - like banning plastic straws to help climate change. It's such a tiny part of the whole it is not really a problem.
  - DFHippie 5y ago
    I don't think banning plastic straws has ever been intended as primarily about climate change. It's a response to micro-plastics as a water pollutant. I may be wrong, but non-degrading plastics are actually a carbon sink, just often a carbon sink in the wrong place.
m0llusk 5y ago
It is not merely an afterthought as there has been some progress. Hoods, for example, now have to prevent pedestrians from falling onto the engine block which is an improvement. Really big problems like roo bars need to be reviewed, even for cop cars.

giantg2 5y ago

There has been a push for pedestrian safety. Just look at the plastic bumpers. Didn't the Tesla truck fail its pedestrian test the way it was configured when unveiled? I agree that the driver tests are a joke. 90% of driving is making good decisions, yet there's not any real testing around this - even the driving test is not long enough to observe these behaviors. Instead it focuses on the other 10% of laws and physical ability, and pretty poorly at that (50 multiple choice questions yet hundreds or even thousands of driving related laws and regs).

makeitdouble 5y ago
TBF in places where driving is a core component of basic everyday life, raising the bar for getting a license will be a wildly unpopular and potentially life destroying measure. It should totally be done, but needs to come with/after a rework of what the alternatives are for people who’re not fit to drive.
- giantg2 5y ago
  True. That can also be a chicken or egg thing. It might be good to grandfather existing people and set the bar higher for people being born now. They do this for all sorts of jr driver restrictions, like number of minors I'm the car (that transition happened around the time I started driving).

s0rce 5y ago

Seems like that will never happen since you can basically modify your vehicle without restrictions even in otherwise restrictive states. And trucks just keep getting bigger and more popular.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
How many modified vehicles do you see? Maybe 1:100, 1:1000 something like that? You probably think you see tons because you hate them just like the guy who hates left lane campers would swear that the Tacoma is more numerous than all work vans combined. Modified vehicles are an easy thing to hate but I suspect they're a negligible source of anything when it comes to fatality statistics especially when you consider that the intersection of "people lifting their trucks" and "people who do a lot of driving where there are pedestrians to hit" is pretty small.
- 29083011397778 5y ago
  This is heavily location-dependent. I grew up one province over, and currently live in Alberta, Canada. Depending on how far one takes the term "modified" (which I take to mean anything not road-legal), it could literally be every other car in the province. I'm sure half the people reading this won't agree, and chalk it up to confirmation bias. But between tinted front driver / passenger windows, license plate "covers" that attempt to defeat speed cameras, lift kits (leading to bumpers above maximum height), improperly-aimed aftermarket lights, and more, I'd be surprised if it was less than 40% of the vehicles on the road.
ClumsyPilot 5y ago
this is one of those statements that's 100% true, and yet is a total distraction - like banning plastic straws to help climate change. It's such a tiny part of the whole it is not really a problem.
- DFHippie 5y ago
  I don't think banning plastic straws has ever been intended as primarily about climate change. It's a response to micro-plastics as a water pollutant. I may be wrong, but non-degrading plastics are actually a carbon sink, just often a carbon sink in the wrong place.

m0llusk 5y ago

It is not merely an afterthought as there has been some progress. Hoods, for example, now have to prevent pedestrians from falling onto the engine block which is an improvement. Really big problems like roo bars need to be reviewed, even for cop cars.