3 ms·

We are actually taught stopping distances (inc. reaction times) in the UK, for our theory tests. I typically find that when I'm being tail-gated it's someone i

We are actually taught stopping distances (inc. reaction times) in the UK, for our theory tests. I typically find that when I'm being tail-gated it's someone in their mid-life, I don't know if there is a problem with young people knowing about stopping distances. I do know there is a problem with young people like me driving recklessly and causing crashes, I just think that there's a possibility that that comes from, well, recklessness. They know the facts and choose to ignore them.

lutusp 13y ago
> We are actually taught stopping distances (inc. reaction times) in the UK, for our theory tests. That's admirable, but I think it would be better to know why those distances are true, i.e. the velocity-squared rule. The idea is very simple, certainly simpler than memorizing a bunch of distances or even noticing the overall relationship between speed and distance. > They know the facts and choose to ignore them. There's a substantial literature about how the teenage brain is wired differently than the brains of those both older and younger. Giving them a car only exacerbates the problem. The irony is that a 10-year-old, and a 25-year-old, would both be likely safer drivers than a 15-year-old. It would be interesting to see a graph of driver safety versus age -- ascending safety as age progresses from zero to about 12 (hypothetically, of course), then a really big dip in safety centered on 16, then another ascent, a long level spell between 25 and 60, then a tailing off after age 60, finally a terrible and irreversible decline after about 75.
- James_Duval 13y ago
  I do think that would be really interesting to see. As a start, apparently 25% of road deaths are among 15-19 year-olds (src: http://www.racfoundation.org/assets/rac_foundation/content/downloadables/young_driver_safety-box_wengraf-july2013.pdf http://www.racfoundation.org/assets/rac_foundation/content/d...). We are usually taught about the velocity squared rule! I think I recall one of the problems on my theory test being based on it. It'd be hard to memorise stopping distances, although I think we do have to memorise approximate reaction time distances.
  - lutusp 13y ago
    > We are usually taught about the velocity squared rule! To me this is a sobering reminder of how much of real life is denied to American students in order to honor intellectual mediocrity, which is so widespread here that it might as well be a secular religion.

lutusp 13y ago

> We are actually taught stopping distances (inc. reaction times) in the UK, for our theory tests. That's admirable, but I think it would be better to know why those distances are true, i.e. the velocity-squared rule. The idea is very simple, certainly simpler than memorizing a bunch of distances or even noticing the overall relationship between speed and distance. > They know the facts and choose to ignore them. There's a substantial literature about how the teenage brain is wired differently than the brains of those both older and younger. Giving them a car only exacerbates the problem. The irony is that a 10-year-old, and a 25-year-old, would both be likely safer drivers than a 15-year-old. It would be interesting to see a graph of driver safety versus age -- ascending safety as age progresses from zero to about 12 (hypothetically, of course), then a really big dip in safety centered on 16, then another ascent, a long level spell between 25 and 60, then a tailing off after age 60, finally a terrible and irreversible decline after about 75.

James_Duval 13y ago
I do think that would be really interesting to see. As a start, apparently 25% of road deaths are among 15-19 year-olds (src: http://www.racfoundation.org/assets/rac_foundation/content/downloadables/young_driver_safety-box_wengraf-july2013.pdf http://www.racfoundation.org/assets/rac_foundation/content/d...). We are usually taught about the velocity squared rule! I think I recall one of the problems on my theory test being based on it. It'd be hard to memorise stopping distances, although I think we do have to memorise approximate reaction time distances.
- lutusp 13y ago
  > We are usually taught about the velocity squared rule! To me this is a sobering reminder of how much of real life is denied to American students in order to honor intellectual mediocrity, which is so widespread here that it might as well be a secular religion.