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Vehicle size / design also a factor. US consumer market loves large, robust vehicles, but what protects the driver hurts the pedestrian. Cybertruk is a good exa

Vehicle size / design also a factor. US consumer market loves large, robust vehicles, but what protects the driver hurts the pedestrian. Cybertruk is a good example - the sharp edges, the rigid construction - total no go on the European market

mrdoop 3y ago
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tzs 3y ago
The article is trying to figure out why this > By 2010 — thanks to better design of roads and vehicles, the addition of seatbelts and greater awareness of drunken driving, among other things — the death rate from crashes had fallen almost 90 percent from its 1920s level which had taken place in the US and other rich countries changed in the US but not in other rich countries: > But the progress ended about a decade ago, or at least it did in the United States. Even as vehicle deaths have continued falling in most counties, they have risen in this country. > Here’s a stark way of thinking about the problem: If the U.S. had made as much progress reducing vehicle crashes as other high-income countries had over the past two decades, about 25,000 fewer Americans would die every year. Larger vehicles do not seem to be the explanation: > Many of the potential explanations for the trend don’t seem to fit. Cars in this country are large, but they have become only slightly larger since the early 2000s. Drunken driving has not become more common, and roads have not become more dangerous. EDIT: Here are potential explanations in the article. • Smartphones. Other rich countries have smartphones, but surveys suggest that Americans use their smartphones much more while driving than do drivers in other rich counties. They speculate that part of this may be due to almost all cars in the US having automatic transmissions, compared to only 25% in Europe, making it more of a hassle to fiddle with your phone while driving in Europe. • Drugs. The US has had a big rise in opioid addiction and in the legalization of marijuana. They mention a federal study that found half of drivers involved in serious accidents tested positive for at least one active drug. • Lack of sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike lanes. Much of the US population growth has been in the Sun Belt where roads often lack those things. Also the increases in homeless mean more people living near traffic.
- hotpotamus 3y ago
  I've started to think of the US as an anti-life country (ironic given the large explicitly "pro-life" political wing that controls much of the government). Watching a million Americans die while people refused to wear masks or take vaccines certainly cemented that belief in me, but years of watching politicians deny universal healthcare to Americans started me on that journey. It shows up in traffic accidents, gun accidents/suicides, drug overdoses, etc... American Exceptionalism seems like nothing more than nihilism.
  - supertrope 3y ago
    Freedom (from government rules). But if an employer or landlord requires it we just take it on the chin.
- stephenr 3y ago
  > They speculate that part of this may be due to almost all cars in the US having automatic transmissions, compared to only 25% in Europe, making it more of a hassle to fiddle with your phone while driving in Europe. I can't speak for Europe but in Australia there are quite strict laws about how a phone can be used while you're driving.

mrdoop 3y ago

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tzs 3y ago

The article is trying to figure out why this > By 2010 — thanks to better design of roads and vehicles, the addition of seatbelts and greater awareness of drunken driving, among other things — the death rate from crashes had fallen almost 90 percent from its 1920s level which had taken place in the US and other rich countries changed in the US but not in other rich countries: > But the progress ended about a decade ago, or at least it did in the United States. Even as vehicle deaths have continued falling in most counties, they have risen in this country. > Here’s a stark way of thinking about the problem: If the U.S. had made as much progress reducing vehicle crashes as other high-income countries had over the past two decades, about 25,000 fewer Americans would die every year. Larger vehicles do not seem to be the explanation: > Many of the potential explanations for the trend don’t seem to fit. Cars in this country are large, but they have become only slightly larger since the early 2000s. Drunken driving has not become more common, and roads have not become more dangerous. EDIT: Here are potential explanations in the article. • Smartphones. Other rich countries have smartphones, but surveys suggest that Americans use their smartphones much more while driving than do drivers in other rich counties. They speculate that part of this may be due to almost all cars in the US having automatic transmissions, compared to only 25% in Europe, making it more of a hassle to fiddle with your phone while driving in Europe. • Drugs. The US has had a big rise in opioid addiction and in the legalization of marijuana. They mention a federal study that found half of drivers involved in serious accidents tested positive for at least one active drug. • Lack of sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike lanes. Much of the US population growth has been in the Sun Belt where roads often lack those things. Also the increases in homeless mean more people living near traffic.

hotpotamus 3y ago
I've started to think of the US as an anti-life country (ironic given the large explicitly "pro-life" political wing that controls much of the government). Watching a million Americans die while people refused to wear masks or take vaccines certainly cemented that belief in me, but years of watching politicians deny universal healthcare to Americans started me on that journey. It shows up in traffic accidents, gun accidents/suicides, drug overdoses, etc... American Exceptionalism seems like nothing more than nihilism.
- supertrope 3y ago
  Freedom (from government rules). But if an employer or landlord requires it we just take it on the chin.
stephenr 3y ago
> They speculate that part of this may be due to almost all cars in the US having automatic transmissions, compared to only 25% in Europe, making it more of a hassle to fiddle with your phone while driving in Europe. I can't speak for Europe but in Australia there are quite strict laws about how a phone can be used while you're driving.