Was relating to a teenaged relative how, back in the 1980s, mass casualty events in stadiums, on trains, ferries, in discos, etc. etc. happened a couple of times a year, and now thanks to the 'elf n safety' regulation some largely RW people whinge about they mostly ... don't. Eyes went wide! - ThreadSky

mariafarrell.bsky.social • 4 days ago

Was relating to a teenaged relative how, back in the 1980s, mass casualty events in stadiums, on trains, ferries, in discos, etc. etc. happened a couple of times a year, and now thanks to the 'elf n safety' regulation some largely RW people whinge about they mostly ... don't. Eyes went wide!

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zatapatique.bsky.social•4 days ago

a favourite one, because of the obvious age-adjusted implications of which deaths exactly are prevented

alanbeattie.bsky.social•4 days ago

And just to show this was policy choice, not just technology.

(Trump wittering on about Japanese car standards and bowling balls is about pedestrian safety.)

preachypreach.bsky.social•4 days ago

What caused the Spain leap? A decade-long Post Franco party and belated trente glorieuses with EEC entry?

jrowanbxl.bsky.social•3 days ago

Vaguely relatedly, back in the noughties I accompanied a UK health minister to Spain to learn why they had such a good record on organ donation and, whilst it's true that they had some v impressive systems in place e.g. on consent, they also had a lot of healthy people dying in car crashes

jrowanbxl.bsky.social•3 days ago

The low point of this trip was on the final day. Minister had gone home. Me and my mate had had an absolute skinful the night before, up until silly o'clock, so pretty fragile. And we end up accompanying the Dept of Health team to a hospital where we are shown videos of them extracting the organs.

jonathanhopkin.bsky.social•3 days ago

Yes, they used to brag about it too! Talk about turning vice into virtue

preachypreach.bsky.social•4 days ago

or drunk tourists...

mpaulmcnamara.bsky.social•4 days ago

My guesses would be easier importation of fast foreign cars if Central Europe is any guide.

zatapatique.bsky.social•4 days ago

yea miles traveled up by a ton would be my first guess, but I have no idea

preachypreach.bsky.social•4 days ago

You’ve got the smaller plateau in Germany post 89 too I guess

jonathanhopkin.bsky.social•3 days ago

Curiously it starts to increase in 1982 with the election of a Socialist government, which is pretty much the end of the transition and of the looming threat of a military coup. So maybe it's that sense of liberation as much as anything (the economy didn't improve until later)

jonathanhopkin.bsky.social•3 days ago

It does reach a peak as the big early 1990s recession starts though, so possibly just a miles thing related to disposable income

smtuffy.bsky.social•4 days ago

Spike seems to happen right around the original UCITS legislation, fwiw

jonathanhopkin.bsky.social•3 days ago

You're on to something with the party thing. It was called 'La Movida' and included institutions such as 'la Ruta del Bacalao' which involved cocaine-fuelled high speed driving from Madrid to Valencia to go to nightclubs

jonathanhopkin.bsky.social•3 days ago

Which reminds me that another thing going on in Spain in the 80s and 90s in particular is a spectacular improvement in the road infrastructure thanks to the Cohesion Funds. The difference between mid 80s when I first visited and mid 90s was enormous. The old roads were absolute deathtraps

jonathanhopkin.bsky.social•3 days ago

Drugs is my best guess. Hitching a ride in northern Spain in 1988 with a 20 year old was the most terrifying experience I ever had.

davidashleydavies.bsky.social•4 days ago

And fatal accidents — seatbelt laws, better brakes, helmets…

mariafarrell.bsky.social•4 days ago

yes!

jonathanhopkin.bsky.social•3 days ago

Just in the short period I was an undergraduate student we had: two mass fatality events at football matches, the Kings Cross tube fire, the Herald of Free Enterprise sinking the Marchioness sinking. 50 or more lives lost every time. There were probably others I've forgotten

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