Georgia Pedestrain Deaths Spike. Other Cities See Large Improvements. (license, cars)

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by jsvh

And if the source of the problem were cars & drivers how would you know?

Maybe we should stop trying to force people to drive so much: Americans Shouldn’t Have to Drive, but the Law Insists on It | The Atlantic

It is just too dangerous regardless. Even before this spike, cars were still a top killer. It's not like 1500 deaths from cars is too much and 1100 a deaths a year is an acceptable number.

Also, here is the source of that graph: DriveAlert ArriveAlive

And how about this little stat from that page: "70% fatalities in crashes are caused by unsafe driving behaviors, including distractions, impairment or driving too fast for conditions."

Sounds like drivers might need to take some responsibility and learn to share the road with pedestrians and bikes.

The #1 contributor to car fatalities is speed.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by cqholt

The #1 contributor to car fatalities is speed.

Yep. If we can geo-fence speed limits on $100 e-scooters on the Beltline, seems like we should do it for $30k cars too. After all the only death in the city on a scooter was the result of a car.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Yep. If we can geo-fence speed limits on $100 e-scooters on the Beltline, seems like we should do it for $30k cars too. After all the only death in the city on a scooter was the result of a car.

Except that sharable, dockless devices are owned by 1 few companies, while personal vehicles are owned by individuals. If we can figure out geofenced, car speed limits then we should also be able to switch from gasoline tax to a VMF.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Except that sharable, dockless devices are owned by 1 few companies, while personal vehicles are owned by individuals. If we can figure out geofenced, car speed limits then we should also be able to switch from gasoline tax to a VMF.

They are only a few companies manufacturing cars so it is the same. They are already putting speed limiters on cars in the EU: https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...-more-by-2022/

So it is certainly possible. And Volvo is going to start including them regardless of legislation requiring them or not.

So again, it is just a matter of people getting serious about safety for cars.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Check the data Sam. Auto and bike fatalities in Georgia are up around the same period too.

Everything is up over five years ago because we were coming out of a recession where far fewer people were driving. So, let's look back pre-recession and see how the numbers pan out. Between 2007 and 2017, vehicle-occupant fatalities in Georgia were down almost 14%, motorcyclists down 12.5%, bicyclists unknown but down 29% since 2009, while pedestrians are up 65%!

Or look at just the last few available years. Between 2015 and 2017, vehicle-occupant fatalities are up 7.4%, motorcyclists even, bicyclists down 35%, while pedestrians are up 31%!

Almost nothing has changed road-wise or driving wise in those years, so you can't blame road design, more roads, or a sudden increase in speed. What you can blame is an increase in pedestrians not paying attention.

But let's say you are right, and no drivers ever look at their phone and it is all pedestrians stepping in the street without looking. What are you going to do to solve it?

Not much you can do to cure stupidity. Hate to tell you, but every street in the city is not going to be a 20 MPH street with wide sidewalks and center pedestrian islands. At some point, you have to put the onus on people to protect themselves from obvious dangers.

Originally Posted by cqholt

The size of vehicles Americans are driving are larger, which is more dangerous for anyone not not a vehicle.

Has that changed that dramatically in the last few years?

Originally Posted by jsvh

It is just too dangerous regardless. Even before this spike, cars were still a top killer. It's not like 1500 deaths from cars is too much and 1100 a deaths a year is an acceptable number.

Obviously, the only "acceptable" number is zero. But, that's not realistic. Nowhere in the entire world has zero driving-related. Never have, never will. How many drowning deaths are acceptable? How many falling deaths are acceptable?

But, the fact of the mater is that the number is WAY down over a few decades ago, even though we have a much larger population. We're doing something right.

Sounds like drivers might need to take some responsibility and learn to share the road with pedestrians and bikes.

Again, you can't cure stupidity of some people. Like this guy from this morning...riding his bike in the middle lane of a major 4-lane divided arterial road. He just happened to swerve towards the left as I took this...he was out in the middle. Then we've seen the photos of guys riding scooters on interstate ramps, guys walking down the middle of the interstate, guys riding bikes against traffic and weaving through cars...these people are your statistics, and there's not much you can do to save them.

Originally Posted by jsvh

Yep. If we can geo-fence speed limits on $100 e-scooters on the Beltline, seems like we should do it for $30k cars too. After all the only death in the city on a scooter was the result of a car.

Didn't he pull out in front of that car?

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

Obviously, the only "acceptable" number is zero. But, that's not realistic.

Cities around the world working towards their "Vision Zero" plans disagree with you.

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Cities around the world working towards their "Vision Zero" plans disagree with you.

Yeah!
...and while we are at it let’s “Just say no!” to drugs, and teach abstinence only birth control to teens!

Seriously, there are good things that we can do to prevent pedestrian deaths, and maybe you should become the champion of a few that you think will have the greatest impact. But, if you tell folks that any pedestrian vehicle death is murder, or that folks should drive at 15mph everywhere Intown, folks will respond to you like the hard-core teen-abstinence folks—sure there will be folks that already agree with you that will nod their heads, and there will be folks that will argue with anything you say, but I don’t know that anyone will really listen.

[arjay57]

We need do all of the above. Educate pedestrians, enforce speed limits, and design and build safer streets.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

We need do all of the above. Educate pedestrians, enforce speed limits, and design and build safer streets.

I notice you didn't mention educate drivers

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

I notice you didn't mention educate drivers

Well, drivers may need continuing education, too.

At least they are regulated by police, and required to be licensed and insured. In the case of young drivers, they have to be formally educated.