4 ms·

It was raining, night, and seemingly no street lights.

sfn42 3y ago
Then slow down. If you can't even see the road ahead of you, stop. You can't drive if you can't see the road. If you choose to drive blind that's on you.
- Spivak 3y ago
  Sure but also no one does that so the advice is speaking to only deaf ears. When was the last time you were driving on an interstate highway at night that isn't lit and slowed to a crawl to make sure there wasn't an unprepared sinkhole beyond your headlight view? Or actually checked that the overpass wasn't collapsed? Because at 75mph you aren't gonna stop in time if you only slam on your breaks when you see it.
  - sfn42 3y ago
    I always drive at a speed where I can stop the car in the area of road that I can see. If I can only see 10 meters ahead I have to be able to stop in probably 5 meters of road, accounting for reaction time etc. So then I have to go very slowly. I have completely stopped the car because it started raining so heavily I couldn't see the road. I am aware that many people drive recklessly. That doesn't change the fact that when they do so, they are neglecting their responsibility to keep themselves and others safe. When their recklessness has consequences, they have to face those consequences. Maybe if they survive and are rational people they will look inwards and understand that they could have avoided it had they taken their responsibility more seriously. This isn't a "no one does that" arm wavy topic. This is literally, in every sense of the word life and death. When you drive recklessly you endanger the health and lives of yourself and everyone around you. This is an extremely serious responsibility, traffic is responsible for the vast majority of deaths in modern society. Almost all of those deaths are caused by recklessness and neglect. I have known many people who have died in traffic. Some due to their own recklessness, others due to others' recklessness. I also know a man who has to live the rest of his life with the burden of having killed a 15 year old girl on her birthday, because him and his buddy wanted to race on public roads. I have absolutely no patience or sympathy for reckless drivers. Recklessness is a spectrum, obviously driving drunk or racing is more reckless than driving a too fast for the conditions but within the speed limit. But both are reckless. Both cost lives every day.
  - tekla 3y ago
    I'm not entirely sure how that excuses reckless driving.
- pierat 3y ago
  Taking ultimate responsibility for your actions is something members of HN dont agree with. Your text is grayed, and my post is at -2. Again, if driving conditions prevent you from seeing too far down the road, either go slower or quit driving. It is your responsibility that you see what the road conditions are, and how to manage them. And in this case, the guy was too busy glued to his phone and died because of it. Blame and lawsuits and cash payments dont bring back human lives.
  - sfn42 3y ago
    Totally agree.
  - RamblingCTO 3y ago
    I also don't understand this. In Germany there's the basic rule to only drive so fast/slow that you can break in viewing distance. Notable exception is the Autobahn. Everywhere else you gotta be able to come to a halt in visible distance. It's not only a rule but very much common sense. Accidents do happen tho and I'm glad that this might push more awareness, more rigor in procedures etc. But at the end of the day all parties are at fault to some degree.
  - lbwtaylor 3y ago
    >Blame and lawsuits and cash payments dont bring back human lives. Blame and lawsuits are often effective ways at solving problems, including preventing future deaths, such as, for example, smoking being advertised as healthy. Personal responsibility does not solve all problems.

Then slow down. If you can't even see the road ahead of you, stop. You can't drive if you can't see the road. If you choose to drive blind that's on you.

Spivak 3y ago
Sure but also no one does that so the advice is speaking to only deaf ears. When was the last time you were driving on an interstate highway at night that isn't lit and slowed to a crawl to make sure there wasn't an unprepared sinkhole beyond your headlight view? Or actually checked that the overpass wasn't collapsed? Because at 75mph you aren't gonna stop in time if you only slam on your breaks when you see it.
- sfn42 3y ago
  I always drive at a speed where I can stop the car in the area of road that I can see. If I can only see 10 meters ahead I have to be able to stop in probably 5 meters of road, accounting for reaction time etc. So then I have to go very slowly. I have completely stopped the car because it started raining so heavily I couldn't see the road. I am aware that many people drive recklessly. That doesn't change the fact that when they do so, they are neglecting their responsibility to keep themselves and others safe. When their recklessness has consequences, they have to face those consequences. Maybe if they survive and are rational people they will look inwards and understand that they could have avoided it had they taken their responsibility more seriously. This isn't a "no one does that" arm wavy topic. This is literally, in every sense of the word life and death. When you drive recklessly you endanger the health and lives of yourself and everyone around you. This is an extremely serious responsibility, traffic is responsible for the vast majority of deaths in modern society. Almost all of those deaths are caused by recklessness and neglect. I have known many people who have died in traffic. Some due to their own recklessness, others due to others' recklessness. I also know a man who has to live the rest of his life with the burden of having killed a 15 year old girl on her birthday, because him and his buddy wanted to race on public roads. I have absolutely no patience or sympathy for reckless drivers. Recklessness is a spectrum, obviously driving drunk or racing is more reckless than driving a too fast for the conditions but within the speed limit. But both are reckless. Both cost lives every day.
- tekla 3y ago
  I'm not entirely sure how that excuses reckless driving.
pierat 3y ago
Taking ultimate responsibility for your actions is something members of HN dont agree with. Your text is grayed, and my post is at -2. Again, if driving conditions prevent you from seeing too far down the road, either go slower or quit driving. It is your responsibility that you see what the road conditions are, and how to manage them. And in this case, the guy was too busy glued to his phone and died because of it. Blame and lawsuits and cash payments dont bring back human lives.
- sfn42 3y ago
  Totally agree.
- RamblingCTO 3y ago
  I also don't understand this. In Germany there's the basic rule to only drive so fast/slow that you can break in viewing distance. Notable exception is the Autobahn. Everywhere else you gotta be able to come to a halt in visible distance. It's not only a rule but very much common sense. Accidents do happen tho and I'm glad that this might push more awareness, more rigor in procedures etc. But at the end of the day all parties are at fault to some degree.
- lbwtaylor 3y ago
  >Blame and lawsuits and cash payments dont bring back human lives. Blame and lawsuits are often effective ways at solving problems, including preventing future deaths, such as, for example, smoking being advertised as healthy. Personal responsibility does not solve all problems.