this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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Bicycles
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There needs to be a worldwide change on how we handle vehicles as transportation. Follow me on this.
Back in 1970s the 0-60mp(102kph) was over 10 seconds. And for those who rode in any car made before 1990s knew you were going highway speeds because the suspension was so bad back then.
Now today average car's acceleration is around 5 seconds, 6.0 in a truck (no source). The technology to separate the driver from the road is insane compared to the cars of the 90s.
Also, cell phones. Need I say more.
In today's world cars are far more dangerous than they were back then just by the fact how more nimble they are. The average driver just so complacent to what we have. And top it off that the average driver is showing more attention to their cell phone. We can't have this type of vehicle in the same environment where bicycles and pedestrians are. We're making slow changes to how buildings and downtown streets are designed but I feel it is not enough.
Steps off soap box
Sources for the US
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/27/us/pedestrian-deaths-2022.html#:~:text=The%20findings%20for%202022%2C%20and,according%20to%20the%20federal%20data.
https://www.ghsa.org/resources/Pedestrians23
Great points! I think how quiet modern electric vehicles are - even when accelerating or at high speeds - is also a concern re: pedestrian safety. We also need legislation that ensures owners of self-driving cars are fully civilly and criminally responsible - to the same degree a human driver would be - for any collisions, injuries, or other damages that their car creates while using a public road
Human drivers should also face heavier legal consequences. You can murder someone and if it's with a car people just think "so sad, shit happens".
Cars should never have been adopted and used so much, they're terrible in many more ways than just killing tens of thousands of pedestrians every single year. For example... killing hundreds of thousands with their pollution every single year. And that's just the beginning.