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oldjim798 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

When you compare driving to almost every other form of transportation it is wildly dangerous. https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics...

"Passenger vehicles are by far the most dangerous motorized transportation option compared. Over the last 10 years, passenger vehicle death rate per 100,000,000 passenger miles was over 60 times higher than for buses, 20 times higher than for passenger trains, and 1,200 times higher than for scheduled airlines. Other comparisons are possible based on passenger trips, vehicle miles, or vehicle trips, but passenger miles is the most commonly used basis for comparing the safety of various modes of travel."

>Your safety is at least somewhat in your control Have you ever driven on roads? What control do I have that someone reading their phone instead of looking where their giant SUV is going while speeding

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deltarholamda 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

Yes, vehicles driven by amateurs are more dangerous than high-capacity vehicles with professional drivers/pilots. People talk about the high number of fatalities as if you have to drive over the scattered dead every day like gruesome speed bumps.

I just think that, considering the number of miles driven in the US and the poor quality of your average driver, the number of deaths is surprisingly low. This is probably at least partially due to the safety regulations that have made cars a helluva lot less of a killbox than they used to be.

If you don't recognize that while driving you have at least some control over your own safety I don't know what to say. Total control? Of course not. Can you not speed, not read HN while eating a burger, not blow through traffic lights without looking? Of course you can.

It would be like arguing against buses because a bus driver can wig out and drive through a cliffside guardrail and there's nothing you can do about it.

	▲	potato3732842 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		>Can you not speed, not read HN while eating a burger, not blow through traffic lights without looking? Of course you can. Seems like a lot of people in here would do those things and then when it goes poorly blame the car. It's basically the "stick in spokes" meme. >It would be like arguing against buses because a bus driver can wig out and drive through a cliffside guardrail and there's nothing you can do about it. Now that you mention it I'm pretty sure a Peter Pan bus did exactly that around here a few years back (I'm gonna go google it, find out that it was in like 2003 and feel old). Driver got confused which overpass ramp he was on and full sent it thinking there was a merge at the top he needed to be up to speed for when instead there was a sharp curve. But yeah, that behavior is def not the norm.

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stefs 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

as far as i know, e-bikes (does that count as a motorized vehicle?) are more dangerous per kilometer traveled (especially if the infrastructure is lacking and not to a small part due to predation from cars, but most of the bike accidents happen without a second party).

compared to driving, riding a bicycle is very healthy so the net effect for bicycling is still positive.

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maleldil 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I don't know where the AI summary is getting the numbers from, but there was an article recently in the front page with more statistics about this: https://ourworldindata.org/britain-safest-roads-history.