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Y'know how I like nuance and am skeptical of simple narratives?
Well, I have a bugbear regarding the discussion on pedestrian fatalities in the US.
To start this thread, I'd like to think I have an unbiased perspective here. I don't drive a very large vehicle, I loathe the arms race in vehicle size, and I welcome all efforts to reduce car-dependence and make our streets safer for all.
But... every discussion I listen to on this topic is real handwavey on the impacts of distracted driving.
The sudden reversal in reduction in pedestrian deaths coincides not only with increase in vehicle size, but the prevalence of the smartphone.
Anybody who drives and gives the remotest shit about being a safe driver will have noticed how many other folks are holding their phones and looking at them while driving 40+ miles per hour, and I really feel like this can't be dismissed as a factor. But seemingly nobody talks about this as meaningful.
I'd like to see someone suss out the data on the number of pedestrian collisions that are occurring over time, but I can't find it easily.
Deaths are obviously going up, and I'm not arguing that a larger car isn't more dangerous to pedestrians and other road users (they most certainly are).
But... I'm almost certain pedestrian impacts have gone up, making you more likely to be hit in the first place. That's important and that matters to the discussion.
That's what I really want to know.
Are people getting *hit* more often? I'm almost certain the answer is yes.
There are plenty of other things we're uniquely bad at, too - road design, licensing requirements, lack of regulations. So by no means am I saying that I feel smartphones are the primary issue here, and I also don't want to make this a personal responsibility thing.
But I'm really weirded out by how this one very much so personal responsibility aspect is just... completely ignored.
@TechConnectify I agree with you FWIW.
But I'm kind of confused why you see distracted driving as "more personal responsibility" than vehicle size, driving speed or just the choice to drive at all.
@Merovius ... I don't know why you think that's what I think.
But I am saying if you can't drive your car without putting your phone away and not looking at it, you shouldn't be on the roads. Yet those people very much are.
@TechConnectify The post I was responding to seemed framed in terms of personal responsibility.
@TechConnectify (just to explain why I thought that. Genuinely not trying to argue with you what you meant or anything :) )
@Merovius to be clear, driving while using your smartphone is absolutely a personal responsibility thing.
That does not mean I think we can solve pedestrian deaths by attacking that issue alone, nor do I think personal responsibility as a solution is viable.
I just really dislike people ignoring this factor. Correlation ain't causation, no, but we had big vehicles before the smartphone yet deaths started rising right when smartphones became prevalent.
@TechConnectify You know, you're not the first person I've seen talking about distracted driving, and yet I've never known a single person who actually uses their phone in a manner that I would consider reckless. If the issue of distracted driving is so big, why is it always someone else who's doing it?
It seems to me that distracted driving either isn't as big of an issue as you're making it out to be, or isn't as straightforward as you're making it out to be (which would be ironic given you're presenting yourself here as the reasonable nuance guy).
@diligentcircle I see it all the goddamn time. Other drivers just checking their phone while in motion. To be fair, usually it's at lights or other lower-risk situations. But it's still awful, and I'm surprised you don't know anybody who complains about this.
@TechConnectify You're glossing over that "to be fair" point like it isn't a big deal. It is. How is someone stopped at an intersection going to run into a pedestrian by checking their phone at that time?
You also completely misread my reply if you thought I said that I don't know anybody who complains. Read again. I said I don't know anybody who does it. Complaints of distracted driving are commonplace, but it's always some nebulous other driver who's supposedly unreasonable.
@diligentcircle as far as I'm concerned, a driver who can't stop themselves from abstaining from using the phone *period* is a problem.
And while it is true that /usually/ what I see isn't the worst behavior, it still puts others at risk. Using your phone when stopped decreases your situational awareness to, at least in my opinion, an unacceptable degree.
If you disagree, that's fine! But nowhere am I saying "big cars are harmless" - I in fact said explicitly the opposite.
@TechConnectify You've been writing in replies a very absolutist perspective on distracted driving, yet you're asking for nuance in relation to vehicle size, when vehicle size is actually an objective component that always affects safety simply because of basic physics. I think you have this very backwards because of the biases that you denied having in your original thread.
I'm not saying that distractions while you're stopped at an intersection are harmless, either. I do contend, thô, that it isn't as anywhere near as important of a factor as the design of cars and roads. I would also contend that expecting drivers to be 100% distraction-free is kind of an anti-human way of framing things.