Americans are ~2.5x more likely to die in a crash than a Canadian, ~3.5x more likely than a Spaniard, and ~5x more likely than a Japanese person.
Here are a few of the articles I wrote in 2024 trying to understand why the US is uniquely terrible at road safety.
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Here are a few of the articles I wrote in 2024 trying to understand why the US is uniquely terrible at road safety.
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Comments
I used to bar hop in my college town where if you were parked at a bar past 2 or 3 am, your car would be towed. No way to leave it and come back the next day if you had 1 too many
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/plain-english-with-derek-thompson/id1594471023?i=1000681848224
Seems like a big omission or buried information.
Thank you
But that would hardly account for the difference.
Basially there's NY, then the rest.
With Montreal, TO and Van doing well, like Boston, Chicago or Philadelphia.
but it seems like the Calgary's and Edmontons really outperform their US peer cities. Which are Columbus or Indianapolis sized.
To much pent up frustration
I now have intimate knowledge of how dangerous it is.
There's only 3 retail businesses within that radius that I feel safe walking/biking to.
Keeps drivers on their toes.
Such groups can duck responsibility by blaming individuals instead.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91233037/whos-really-to-blame-and-who-isnt-for-americas-traffic-death-epidemic
Wes Marshall put road engineers under a microscope in his book, Killed by a Traffic Engineer. I interviewed him about it.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-06-03/in-killed-by-a-traffic-engineer-a-us-road-planner-pleads-for-reform
I wrote a slew of articles this year about the harms of car bloat, More info below.
https://bsky.app/profile/davidzipper.bsky.social/post/3leeiywu65c2x
The US should adopt speed-limiting tech (Intelligent Speed Assist) to curtail reckless acceleration.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24086680/speeding-limit-car-crash-accidents-deaths-intelligent-speed-assistance-tech
But like you said, we also need better infra to support that.
Also, drivers are bad, but it's most not their fault. We need better drivers ed and testing.
Active ISA tech must be pursued
#cdnpoli #onpoli
In Austria, the government confiscates and sells the cars of reckless speeders. End of story.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-19/austria-aims-to-curb-crashes-with-crackdown-on-super-speeders
It’s actually insane how lax this law really is.
This deep dive is a couple years old, but its main thesis remains true: America’s sky-high death toll is due to policy choices – not “national character.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-11-03/why-us-traffic-safety-fell-so-far-behind-other-countries
"An ignition interlock device (IID), also known as a car breathalyzer, is an in-car alcohol monitoring system that measures the user’s BAC level."
https://www.lifesafer.com/ignition-interlock-devices/what-is-an-ignition-interlock/
It looks like the American Bald Eagle shouldn't have been named the official bird of the nation, but the ostrich.
My point was’t a defense of the status quo so much as wondering about the causal differences in magnitudes across nations.
Very nice touch.
- poor drivers ed and testing requirements
- poor roads and road design
- a culture of distractions and no self awareness
- a culture where we don't care
I'm a great driver, but I'm obsessed with understanding rules and why they exist.
However, I also understand the time and place to do such things.
Plus I have experience driving cars fast, so I understand how to control them better.
I've only been in one minor paint trade in a parking lot, and it's because I was depressed and distracted. Otherwise never had an accident in 8+ years.
1. Crazy blind spots
2. Other drivers with no self awareness
I remember once driving on I-87 to Albany during a downpour. I nearly crashed, but it's because the car in front of me randomly started braking hard.
I also recall countless instances of people changing lanes without turn signals, or otherwise having un-predictable movements.
america has crappy roads, but americans drive on those crappy roads thinking they are perfect
RIP #FallonSmart
https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2016/09/teens_death_illustrates_portla.html
RDR, like other Health and Safety regimes, is based on reducing danger at source, namely the (mis)use of motor vehicles.
See https://www.rdrf.org.uk
Also wonder what the hell Iceland is up to.
Of course Japan is great, they also have no immigration.