JoeyBike

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/28/healt...-bn/index.html

I have a hunch that the cause of the increase in pedestrian smacking also translates to cyclists getting smacked.

Daniel4

This looks familiar. Does it have anything to do with the other thread about Detroit and the 40% increase in pedestrian fatalities?

"While we have made progress reducing fatalities among many other road users in the past decade, pedestrian deaths have risen 35 percent,"

parkbrav

The researchers attribute the increase to:

* More people who are walking and are therefore more exposed;
* nighttime crossings on local roads away from intersections;
* unsafe driving behaviors like speeding or distracted or drowsy driving;
* alcohol consumption and smartphone use by both drivers and pedestrians;
* and a rise in the number of SUVs, which generally cause more severe pedestrian injuries.

How about self driving cars?

How about Google Maps directing motorists to "short-cuts" through residential neighborhoods?

JoeyBike

NOOOOOOOO! That's where I bike!

Does Google really do this??

parkbrav

No I meant motorists, not cyclists

Yeah, I've seen articles on the local tv news about communities that are asking Google etc. to de-list certain roads from their services because of the increased traffic.

parkbrav

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/11/...pps-commuters/

burnthesheep

It won't ever get better until the penalty is greater than that of a repeat marijuana dealer or person stealing a television.

You know, an ACTUAL prison term for someone who takes a life while driving a car.

There is no such thing as an accident. Only incidents.

Puts some texting minivan moms in prison for 10 years for vehicular homicide and people will start to notice.

Maelochs

Distracted/impaired driving and walking is probably the biggest factor. it used to be only drunks drove without noticing and only drunks staggered off the sidewalk unaware. Now it is common to all drivers and pedestrians.

Quote:

Originally Posted by parkbrav

How about self driving cars?

Well, there aren't enough of them to make a difference yet .... unless you think the one fatality caused by a self-driving car should count for more, or something ....

Quote:

Originally Posted by parkbrav

How about Google Maps directing motorists to "short-cuts" through residential neighborhoods?

This is a real issue---people who were too lazy to find the back routes and now try to drive near-highway speeds though residential neighborhoods .... navigation programs give the thinking-man's edge to those too stupid or lazy to think.

I lived in a city for a while where the rush-hour highway gridlock was ridiculous---I was vastly faster on a bike at 15 mph than a car. However, Every side-route and back-route had been discovered, because local government ignored the problem for so long. There were no better driving routes ... every stop sign was a traffic jam. I had to go deep into residential neighborhoods to find safe cycling---to the point where the added low-speed mileage would have slowed a car more than waiting at a stop sign. It was worth it to me .... but for most people who had bought homes in "quiet" neighborhoods 15 or 20 years before, suddenly they were living on main rush-hour arteries.

I cannot imagine what the place is like now.

JoeyBike

I know I know! I weave my way through mostly quiet back streets to get away from traffic, sometimes doubling or tripling my route. Now you tell me that Google is SENDING cars my way too. I so loved the days when motorists were too stoopid to discover those back streets actually went somewhere. We have very few cul-de-sacs in New Orleans/Jefferson Parish so I can literally bike across the entire Metro area from end to end on back streets with very few impasses.

Now I know why at rush hours there are more cars on those quiet streets than ever before. Google is trying to BYPASS the clogged main arteries. Waaaaaaaa!

no motor?

I wonder how many of those deaths are from people walking in the road instead of using a sidewalk? I see that a lot out in my area, and have never been able to figure out why people wouldn't rather be on the sidewalk instead of in the street. What's really odd is seeing adults bicycling on the sidewalks while people walk in the street.

Maelochs

if I were walking I'd feel safer on the street than fighting for space with people who didn't have the confidence in their riding skills to use the street. Bikes on sidewalks are a menace.

mr_bill

Daniel4

"The increase also comes at a time in which all other traffic deaths are on the decline, according to the report."

The article didn't state what those numbers were but I think motorist deaths would still be in the 30,000s.

Now I'm sure if there were real efforts made to reduce motorist deaths by improving driver behaviour, pedestrian fatalities and all others would decline too.

venturi95

I have long been a proponent of keeping quiet back streets quiet before smart phones. I lived near Golden Gate Park and sent my share of letters, and once pics of a bad accident in the park involving cars (two people left in ambulances, glad I wasn't riding) when the deranged lady in the Volvo ran numerous stop signs at 45 mph. At the time I believe my complaints fell on deaf ears, but I like to think a few of us making noise over the years has helped. I never felt the park or back streets were a good outlet for frustrated and harried commuters. It seems obvious to us, but drivers like to protect their right to blast down every street.

venturi95

Also, I think traffic deaths are down by a great amount - in relation to miles driven - due to the evolving safety of automobiles in high speed crashes. Phones just make safety way worse for everyone.

Maelochs

This is real. Car engineering has evolved tremendously and very rapidly. People survive a lot more wrecks just because of crumple zones, multiple airbags, passive protections like bolsters and head rests .... wrecks that would have killed not so long ago are treated with a couple aspirin nowadays ... the only reason deaths haven't really plummeted is that more stupid people with even less regard for safety are driving while even more distracted. IMO.

KraneXL

Cars are already semi-autonomous driving, and in addition they have pedestrian avoidance technology. If anything, pedestrian accidents (all accidents for that matter) should be decreasing.

unterhausen

roads have gotten a lot safer for cars as well. But this means that every road looks like a freeway.

parkbrav

You make a good point. Up here in Boston, when they plow the roads, they push all the snow from the road onto the sidewalk, often obliterating the sidewalks for all of winter.

Daniel4

Yes, the car certainly has improved but the driver hasn't.

Notice recently that new cars have so many semi-autonomous capabilities available. There's self parallel parking, rear view detection, lane deviation, forward collision mitigation, etc . A great ad slogan that will never be used would be "The car for the bad driver."

Since the only factor that prohibits serious reduction in road safety is the driver, the obvious solution would be to remove the driver. Can't wait for self-driving cars.

MikeyMK

It wouldn't surprise me if England was the same. The standard of driving here only goes in one direction, and I have a few ideas as to why.

1) Police - lack of them, lack of proper policing, effect on attitudes toward them.
2) Brat brigade. Everyone is in a hurry to save time. I don't know what they do with the time saved, tho...
3) Cars - never has it been so easy and comfortable to throw two tons of iron around.

no motor?

I bet you're in favor of the ninja salmon too.

Out in the northwest suburbs there's a yearly event held in the winter that attracts hundreds of people walking in the roads, often in the dark and with kids. The cops warn people about this because the walkers have no desire to walk on the sidewalks and the cops do what they can to minimize the potential problems.

I see this in the warmer months when snow and ice isn't an issue.

CliffordK

For cyclists:
https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/p...facts/bicycles

The number of cyclist fatalities generally decreased from 1975 to 2000, then has remained fairly stable since then. A slight increase in the last few years. 2017 was lower than the previous two years.

The number of cyclists on the road of course varies with the economy and social trends. And, the US population and number of cars and miles driven have steadily been increasing.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M12MTVUSM227NFWA

CliffordK

One of the pedestrian deaths was attributed to a self driving car.

https://www.economist.com/the-econom...d-a-pedestrian

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opin...ver/724542002/

Maelochs

One and only one .... ever.

That particular incident has been hashed to death .... and so far it is the only one. Not a factor.