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from the 'hit-the-road'-but-don't-take-it-literally dept.
ScienceNews reports on a report from the CDC (informative graph):
U.S. drivers love to hit the road. The problem is doing so safely.
In 2013, 32,894 people in the United States died in motor vehicle crashes. Although down since 2000, the overall death rate - 10.3 per 100,000 people - tops 19 other high-income countries, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported July 8. Belgium is a distant second with 6.5 deaths per 100,000. Researchers reviewed World Health Organization and other data on vehicle crash deaths, seat belt use and alcohol-impaired driving in 2000 and 2013.
Canada had the highest percentage of fatal crashes caused by drunk drivers: 33.6 percent. New Zealand and the United States tied for second at 31 percent. But Canada and 16 other countries outperformed the United States on seat belt use - even though, in 2013, 87 percent of people in the United States reported wearing safety belts while riding in the front seat.
Spain saw the biggest drop - 75 percent - in its crash death rate. That country improved nearly all aspects of road safety, including decreasing alcohol-impaired driving and increasing seat belt use, the researchers say.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @01:00AM
There are way too many aggressive drivers on our highways. They are treating all of the roads like the Autobahn. Every drive to work should not be the equivalent of a NASCAR race, where you fear you may not make it there in one piece.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @01:02AM
Okay then, stay out of the left lane then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @06:14AM
There are also far too many sociopathic assholes on our highways who think they own the highways, assholes who block the passing lane while driving below the speed limit, then floor it to block anyone who tries to pass them, and then "brake check" randomly to endanger anyone behind them who simply wants to drive the speed limit. In some states it is illegal to block the passing lane like this, but police refuse to enforce the law due to some bullshit rationalization about it "rewarding speeders", when in reality what enforcement would do is help prevent traffic jams and accidents (driving below the speed limit is far more dangerous than driving above it).
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @07:57AM
and then "brake check" randomly to endanger anyone behind them who simply wants to drive the speed limit. In some states it is illegal to block the passing lane like this, but police refuse to enforce the law . . .
So YOU were the asshole that kept trying to push me to exceed the speed limit so that you could break the law, and followed so dangerously close that I just had to slam on the brakes to make you realize how fucking slow your fucking reaction time actually is at 75+mph. You do realize that if you strike another vehicle in the rear, even if they slammed on the brakes for what appears to you and your tunnel-visioned sense of self-entitlement to be NO REASON, you are legally at fault for causing the accident. I would have my terminator unit extract you from your burning vehicle, turn you over, and rear-end you for being such a dick, if you ever had the chutzpah to do something like that. So, I look forward to blocking a passing lane near you soon by driving the legal maximum. Back off, mutherfugga!
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday July 25 2016, @06:32PM
So YOU were the asshole that kept trying to push me to exceed the speed limit so that you could break the law...
If you weren't passing in that left lane then you were actually the one breaking the law (in my state at least).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 26 2016, @03:45AM
And what makes you think I wasn't, oh appropriately handled Soylentil? Stay off my bumper. Safe distance is at least one vehicle length per 10mph.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @01:39PM
The problem is the rules that should be enforced but aren't. First, in the US, law mandates that manufacturers install indicators on all vehicles, yet it's never illegal to not use them. When traffic is moving 100km/h or greater and there is some density to it, it's easy to create some risk and danger if nobody is using indicators. It means everyone is suddenly guessing at any instant what happens next. You see panicked disruptions and such. More importantly is slower traffic keep right. Those four words should be the most heavily enforced rule out there. Too many assholes cruising in the fastest lane at an absolutely unacceptable speed. This is the most dangerous element short of lane weaving at insanely close proximities repeatedly (fuckers that do this shouldn't be fined but arrested outright if you ask me. In nearly two decades I've only seen police pull over someone doing this ONCE. This is preposterous as this is incredibly dangerous regardless of speed. If not arrested, then suspension of licence.) Like damage traffic will try to route around it to maintain the flow it should have. In Germany, this rule IS strictly enforced, and if you are caught going slower in the left expect to be pulled over and fined.
Have all the cops stop enforcing the speed limit and make them enforce relative speeds of the lanes. Anyone going slower on the left forcing traffic to pile up or forcing it to pass from the right to route around it should be stopped and fined like in Germany. Overall flow of speed is set naturally by the environment based on weather conditions and density of traffic. We shouldn't need a speed limit due to physics. If there is someone trying to go 30km/h+ greater than every other car traversing all lanes, obviously he deserves to be stopped as well, but other than that, speed limits can fuck off along with the cops who fine people for infringing them when their driving conduct was absolutely safe otherwise!!
I'd even venture to say that those who religiously observe the limit are potentially a problem. Maybe they can't afford another fine and another increase in insurance premiums so they will never exceed it, but most of the time, the flow is greater than the limit so they're creating an obstruction overall. Even if they remain in the right lane where they belong at that speed, it's still not very intuitive. Going 20km/h+ BELOW everybody else just creates a bottleneck effect and encourages a lot of sudden passing by others.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 24 2016, @02:25PM
"in the 1970s when vehicles simply weren't capable of handling sudden changes correctly"
WTF?
Lemme guess. You've been drinking some Kool-Aid, without checking where it came from. And, to reinforce the Kool-Aid, you've veiwed some tired old, worn out cars from the '70's which haven't seen proper maintenance since about 1990
First, you need to be aware that virtually everyone back then learned to drive with rear-wheel drive. Most people still had bias tires. Brakes weren't ABS. But, overall, the suspension was reliable. You learned to drive with the suspension you had, you learned to use the brakes intelligently, you understood the capabilities of your tires, or you smashed into something. And - things really haven't changed much today. There are still millions of people, young and old alike, who don't understand today's "safer" cars any better than you understand vintage cars.
Most accidents are, and always have been, due to human error.
The rest of your post is reasonable though. In fact, they had a term for what you describe, many decades ago - the 85th percentile.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/93CE5655-F442-4D8F-B67C-11AA8B2F531D/0/Speed_Limits_Info.pdf [wa.gov]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @09:25PM
yet it's never illegal to not use them
In all of the states I have been in it is illegal to NOT use them. Enforced? Not at all. Basically one of those laws that is only enforced when the cop wants an excuse to pull you. A few have started passing 'dont hang in the left lane' laws.
What I noticed is in major cities everyone drives like 'they know how' and drive like it is a race. Then in rural areas they want *NO* *ONE* in front of them and will ride your ass.
I had the 'pleasure' of driving I24 between nashville and padukah. Everyone in cars were in the left lane. All the trucks in the right. *that* was 'fun'.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 24 2016, @02:12PM
There may be to many aggressive drivers - but there is a worse excess of drivers who are timid, and/or stupid, and/or impaired, and/or distracted. It would be nice if there were stats available to compare all those classes of drivers. As a general rule, it's not the aggressive driver who is smashed up on the side of the road. Note that "aggressive" and "reckless" are not synonyms.