3 ms·
The fact that you are comparing a fumble of a mug and rear-ending someone suggests to me that you have internalised that implication that RTCs "just happen". T
by ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
The fact that you are comparing a fumble of a mug and rear-ending someone suggests to me that you have internalised that implication that RTCs "just happen".
There's certain behaviour that leads to rear-ending someone - typically lack of awareness/attentiveness rather than it being a momentary loss of control. It's predictable that e.g. someone using a phone whilst driving will be far more likely to cause a RTC whereas the coffee mug dropping isn't really associated with any particular behaviour.
What I mean is that mug dropping is not really something that we can do anything about, but ensuring that drivers obey traffic laws and are attentive is definitely something that can be influenced (e.g. by police or by public messaging).
- rcxdude 3y agopretty much all your arguments about the rear ending apply to the mug as well (I think we all know someone who drops/damages objects more often than most, and you can usually link said instances to a lapse of attention). The only difference is the severity of the outcome and thus the importance of avoiding behaviours which increase the risk of it occuring.
- sokoloff 3y agoI strongly believe that dropped coffee mugs are also positively correlated with lack of awareness/attentiveness. It seems weird to contemplate that they would be uncorrelated or negatively correlated. (I would expect that phone usage also positively correlates as a major category/source of distraction.) Same is true of rear-end collisions/accidents/unscheduled bumper modifications.
- oceanplexian 3y agoProbably something that’s left over from childhood. When a baby breaks something it’s almost always an accident. Eventually babies grow up and become adults, and coffee cups turn into multi-ton automobiles.
- ndsipa_pomu 3y agoQuite possibly. Maybe the difference then is that holding a coffee mug isn't an activity in itself, but typically combined with other activities whereas driving shouldn't be combined with other activities. It's possible that a sustained "don't use the internet whilst drinking from a mug" campaign could reduce the droppings(!), but it seems like a different class of problem than driving whilst distracted.