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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday December 13 2017, @08:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the dark-side-of-the-moon dept.

Full moons and particularly "supermoons" have been linked to increased deaths of motorcyclists:

Distracted drivers, like those who text behind the wheel, are a danger to themselves and to others. Even a brief, momentary glance away from the road can result in life-threatening consequences.

Research published Dec. 11 in The BMJ [open, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.j5367] [DX] points toward another potential distraction for motorists: the full moon, gracing the sky with its brightness around 12 times a year, and the dazzling supermoon, which comes into focus around once a year.

The researchers found that on nights illuminated by a full moon, fatal motorcycle accidents increased by 5 percent compared to nights without a full moon. On evenings when the supermoon decorated the sky, this increased to 32 percent. The study included data from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

While this observational data cannot prove any firm conclusions, the researchers warn drivers of the risks of seemingly minor distractions, urging constant attention while driving at all times.


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  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday December 13 2017, @11:55PM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday December 13 2017, @11:55PM (#609497) Journal

    On the other hand, letting one or a handful of central authorities have command over all automobiles would have a large practical effect.

    Having autonomous cars is not the same as having cars that are controlled by an external authority. Neither does an autonomous car have to be controlled or controllable by a central authority (indeed, I would claim that a car that is controlled by a central authority is not really autonomous), nor is a car that is controlled by a central authority necessarily autonomous (indeed, hackers can take over non-autonomous cars today [wired.com] so it is not much of a stretch that there's a backdoor for central authorities, too).

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