4 ms·

Yet pedestrian deaths keep going up: ""There are more pedestrians being killed today than in decades," Russ Martin, the senior director of policy and governmen

Yet pedestrian deaths keep going up: ""There are more pedestrians being killed today than in decades," Russ Martin, the senior director of policy and government relations at the Governors Highway Safety Association, told NPR. The organization, which tracks pedestrian deaths in the U.S., estimates that more than 7,500 pedestrians were killed by drivers last year — the highest number since 1981. The final tally may be even greater given that Oklahoma was unable to provide data due to a technical issue." https://www.npr.org/2023/06/26/1184034017/us-pedestrian-deaths-high-traffic-car https://www.npr.org/2023/06/26/1184034017/us-pedestrian-deat...

peoplefromibiza 3y ago
> Yet pedestrian deaths keep going up: That's not unexpected. There are factors constantly being ignored, besides speed - drivers age: the population is getting older everywhere in the west, older drivers pose more dangers. - cars are getting bigger for no real reason, bigger cars means they are more dangerous even at lower speeds - urban areas are flooded by very large commercial vehicles, the "instant delivery market" wasn't a thing 20 years ago, trucks and vans weren't as ubiquitous as they are now and they are obviously not really "urban vehicles". a couple more less obvious - less people driving increases the risks of driving, people are less experienced or are forced to drive when they don't feel safe doing it. When my grandma was the age my father is now, we told her her car broke to stop her from driving. Now my dad, who never really liked driving much, has to keep doing it because my sister doesn't want to drive herself, but she has a small daughter and with children there are always emergencies that require to drive a car - related to the previous one: the European Commission concluded that "In general, drivers travelling fewer kilometres have increased crash rates per kilometre compared to those driving more kilometres". People drive shorter distances, it means they are less exposed to different scenarios, which in turn means drivers react poorly to unknwon or lesser known circumstances. One of the most common being driving fatigue. In my opinion driving tests should become harder to pass, more frequent (no more lifetime licenses) and should include some basic course of safe driving and simulated environment for weather conditions and high speed driving on track, to compensate for the loss of real life practice and urban areas should be restricted to urban vehicles. A pickup truck or an SUV do not fall in the category.

peoplefromibiza 3y ago

> Yet pedestrian deaths keep going up: That's not unexpected. There are factors constantly being ignored, besides speed - drivers age: the population is getting older everywhere in the west, older drivers pose more dangers. - cars are getting bigger for no real reason, bigger cars means they are more dangerous even at lower speeds - urban areas are flooded by very large commercial vehicles, the "instant delivery market" wasn't a thing 20 years ago, trucks and vans weren't as ubiquitous as they are now and they are obviously not really "urban vehicles". a couple more less obvious - less people driving increases the risks of driving, people are less experienced or are forced to drive when they don't feel safe doing it. When my grandma was the age my father is now, we told her her car broke to stop her from driving. Now my dad, who never really liked driving much, has to keep doing it because my sister doesn't want to drive herself, but she has a small daughter and with children there are always emergencies that require to drive a car - related to the previous one: the European Commission concluded that "In general, drivers travelling fewer kilometres have increased crash rates per kilometre compared to those driving more kilometres". People drive shorter distances, it means they are less exposed to different scenarios, which in turn means drivers react poorly to unknwon or lesser known circumstances. One of the most common being driving fatigue. In my opinion driving tests should become harder to pass, more frequent (no more lifetime licenses) and should include some basic course of safe driving and simulated environment for weather conditions and high speed driving on track, to compensate for the loss of real life practice and urban areas should be restricted to urban vehicles. A pickup truck or an SUV do not fall in the category.