Victim Shaming Pedestrians

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Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Rory » Mon Apr 03, 2017 7:00 pm

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/0 ... .html?_r=0

Not sure I like the cut of their jib.

Pedestrian Deaths Spiked in 2016, Distraction Cited

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMARCH 30, 2017, 12:06 A.M. E.D.T.
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WASHINGTON — Pedestrian deaths are climbing faster than motorist fatalities, reaching nearly 6,000 deaths last year — the highest total in more than two decades, according to an analysis of preliminary state data released Thursday.

Increased driving due to an improved economy, lower gas prices and more walking for exercise and environmental factors are some of the likely reasons behind the estimated 11 percent spike in pedestrian fatalities in 2016. The figures were prepared for the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety offices.

But researchers say they think the biggest factor may be more drivers and walkers distracted by cellphones and other electronic devices, although that's hard to confirm.

Walking and miles driven are up only a few percentage points, and are unlikely to account for most of the surge in pedestrian deaths, said Richard Retting, safety director for Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants and the author of the report. Meanwhile, texting and use of wireless devices have exploded, he said.

"It's the only factor that that seems to indicate a dramatic change in how people behave," Retting said.

The report is based on data from all states and the District of Columbia for the first six months of 2016 and extrapolated for the rest of the year. It shows the largest annual increase in both the number and percentage of pedestrian fatalities in the more than 40 years those national records on such deaths have been kept, with the second largest increase occurring in 2015. Pedestrian deaths as a share of total motor vehicle crash deaths increased from 11 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2015.

"This latest data shows that the U.S. isn't meeting the mark on keeping pedestrians safe on our roadways," said Jonathan Adkins, the safety association's executive director. "Every one of these lives represents a loved one not coming home tonight, which is absolutely unacceptable."

Traffic fatalities overall jumped 6 percent last year, pushing deaths on U.S. roads to their highest level in nearly a decade and erasing improvements made during the Great Recession and economic recovery, according to data released last month by the National Safety Council, a leading safety organization. The council estimates there were more than 40,200 traffic deaths in 2016. The last time there were more than 40,000 fatalities in a single year was in 2007, just before the economy tanked. There were 41,000 deaths that year.

But pedestrian deaths are sharply outpacing fatalities overall, climbing 25 percent from 2010 to 2015, according to Retting's research. Total traffic deaths increased about 6 percent over the same period.

"We cannot look at distracted driving solely as an in-vehicle issue," said Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for the safety council. "That discounts the impact distraction could have on pedestrians."

On the other hand, "walking is working," she said. "Just as we need drivers to be alert, pedestrians have to be, too."

Another factor in pedestrian deaths is alcohol. Thirty-four percent of pedestrians and 15 percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes were intoxicated at the time, Retting said. But there is no indication that there has been a change in drinking habits that would account for the spike in deaths, he said.

More than twice as many states reported an uptick in pedestrian fatalities than had decreasing numbers.

The problem is greatest in large population states that have urban areas where people do a lot of walking. Delaware, Florida and Arizona had the highest rates of pedestrian deaths relative to their populations, while North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming had the lowest.

The striking increase in pedestrian deaths has grabbed the attention of the National Transportation Safety Board, the government panel that investigates accidents and makes safety recommendations. The board held a forum on pedestrian safety last year, and currently has an investigation underway to broadly examine the causes and potential solutions to the problem.

Pedestrians "are our most vulnerable road users," said NTSB member Bella Dinh-Zarr.

People are "more easily distracted than when we didn't have so many easily accessible, essentially, computers in our palms," she said. "We look at that as an increasing risk for pedestrians."
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Cordelia » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:00 pm

:shrug: Thread Title

Self-driving cars predicted sooner than later:

How Pedestrians Will Defeat Autonomous Vehicles

The ‘game of chicken’ which could be a serious problem for driverless cars


By Karinna Hurley on March 21, 2017

Stand at any corner along via del Babuino and it won’t be hard to tell the locals from the tourists. The guidebook holders navigate the swirling vespas and honking Fiats with a mix of hesitation and mad dashing, while the neighborhood residents cross with relative ease; assertive and calm. And it’s not just in Rome: in cities around the world local pedestrians, with a different sense of how drivers will behave, stand apart from occasional visitors. Unless you are on an isolated country road, walking and driving are social interactions, and only residents come to know behavioral customs of their city.

But, a big change might be coming soon. Understanding the psychology of other road users — when and if they will yield — won’t be helpful in cross-walk calculations when the other driver isn’t a person. Self-driving cars are already on the way; by some projections autonomous capability could even be standard by 2030. As drivers, cars will behave differently than humans, and they will almost surely be programmed to avoid hitting people. The idea that roads will become safer, with fewer traffic accidents, is a driving force behind the new technology. But, as pedestrians quickly figure out the cars’ behavior, they will certainly adapt theirs as well. The effects could be dramatic: instead of more consistent, traffic flow could become chaotic.

A recently published paper in the Journal of Planning Education and Research explored how interactions between humans and self-driving cars could change the rules of the road. Author Adam Millard-Ball first explains a current model of how pedestrians decide when to cross the street. Each crossing involves a mental calculation: a choice between crossing as quickly as possible and risking being hit vs. waiting, for who knows how long, or even choosing a new route. Drivers also have a decision to make, to yield or not to yield. The set-up is a cross-walk game of chicken between driver and pedestrian. While intuitively it may seem that pedestrians, more likely to be hurt by a collision, would always yield first, their actions are in fact shaped by social norms. Drivers are likely to yield when hampered by busy traffic or, for example, unpredictable tourists. But, if the local norm is always for pedestrians to wait, the risk of crossing is greater and waiting then makes even more sense.

In a game of cross-walk chicken with a self-driving car, things will be very different. Unlike people, cars will always act predictably; no temptation to glance at a cell phone, need to break-up a fight between squabbling toddlers, or attempts to balance a steering wheel and a drive-through burger. And, cars will almost surely be programed to avoid hitting people. Local customs will be irrelevant; pedestrians will be up against exclusively law-abiding yielders — no matter the corner or block, the pedestrians will have the psychological upper-hand. With full confidence cars will yield, they can be emboldened crossers, even in situations when they do not have the right-of-way. Humans will be free to take advantage of cars.

Millard-Ball outlines three possibilities for how new human-car interactions will alter the roads of the future, starting with pedestrian supremacy. In this scenario, if you need to get somewhere within the center of town you’ll probably go by foot. Your car can drop you off on the outskirts, but will effectively be curbed in urban areas as pedestrians’ impunity to cross streets at their convenience could potentially slow car traffic to a halt. The density of urban areas will continue to increase as walking becomes more efficient than driving.

In the regulatory response outcome, pedestrians will still think twice about crossing the street, but instead of focusing on the risk of being hit by a car, being hit with a potential traffic ticket will come to mind. Attempts to reign in pedestrians could come through a combination of new regulations and infrastructure designed to keep people and cars separated. Planning focused on shared spaces for cars and people will decline and fences and road barriers will increase. Liability for pedestrian-car accidents would primarily fall on the (now) law-breaking pedestrians, and not car manufacturers, further constraining their behavior.

Finally, according to a human driver scenario, the slower travel time incurred by using a self-driving car would outweigh the benefits of a passenger lifestyle. The freedom to check-your email, call-in on a business meeting, or watch Netflix on the drive to work simply won’t be worth taking the extra travel time to get there. Indeed, retaining the advantage in the game of crosswalk chicken will override the convenience of being driven. But, pedestrian-oriented designs only makes sense if most vehicles drive themselves. Ultimately, how neighborhoods evolve to accommodate and incorporate self-driving cars will depend on all the various policy, legal, and technological factors. No matter what scenario prevails, transportation in the future will likely be shaped by the ability of humans to exploit the driverless machines.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... -vehicles/
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Rory » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:22 pm

Cordelia, the subject head is to do with the research which puts the blame on dead pedestrians for their own demise. It's not jaywalking being blamed here - it's perfectly legal pedestrian behavior that's being shamed, as if somehow they die on the road, legally crossing and it's their own fault for being in the way of the car.

Typing on my phone with I'm not very good at doing for any length of time, sorry.l if I'm not clear with what I mean
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Iamwhomiam » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:47 pm

Ha!
Pedestrians walk freely in a world of self-driving cars
October 26, 2016
https://phys.org/news/2016-10-pedestrians-freely-world-self-driving-cars.html

Image

The Dutch Put in LED Crosswalk Lights To Save Us From Ourselves
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a25241/led-sidewalk-lights-pedestrians-smartphone/
Image

Laser Beam Crosswalks Alert Drivers To Pedestrians
https://www.psfk.com/2012/11/laser-beam-crosswalks.html
Image

Image
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Rory » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:55 pm

I love the idea that tech will save us. I prefer the far more simple/cheaper idea of mandating the instalation of a 12 inch sharp steel spike, inserted perpendicular to the plane of the steering wheel, pointing directly towards the drivers face

Would be an object Lesson in the reality of people being far more careful to their surroundings
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Cordelia » Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:37 pm

Rory » Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:22 pm wrote:Cordelia, the subject head is to do with the research which puts the blame on dead pedestrians for their own demise. It's not jaywalking being blamed here - it's perfectly legal pedestrian behavior that's being shamed, as if somehow they die on the road, legally crossing and it's their own fault for being in the way of the car.

Typing on my phone with I'm not very good at doing for any length of time, sorry.l if I'm not clear with what I mean


Thanks for clarifying. :thumbsup

I heard these statistics on the radio last week; in that report, not included in the NYT article, is that just under 75% of pedestrian fatalities happen at night when drivers and pedestrians involved are more likely to have been drinking. fwiw

From NYT
Another factor in pedestrian deaths is alcohol. Thirty-four percent of pedestrians and 15 percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes were intoxicated at the time, Retting said. But there is no indication that there has been a change in drinking habits that would account for the spike in deaths, he said.


I view biased coverage as the media continuing to pave the (road)way in preparing the population for the next big change (autonomous = safer vehicles?) :shrug: .
The greatest sin is to be unconscious. ~ Carl Jung

We may not choose the parameters of our destiny. But we give it its content. ~ Dag Hammarskjold 'Waymarks'
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby stefano » Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:02 pm

I've noticed every now and again, especially from the US, there will be a story about a pedestrian or cyclist getting killed by a car, and the driver doesn't face much in the way of consequences. Always makes me think about the bit in Fahrenheit 451 where Montag's wife and her friend go out driving and try hitting pedestrians on purpose for a laugh.
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Iamwhomiam » Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:30 pm

Bicyclists are making great inroads these days, but are still seen mostly as an annoyance. We have one particular deadly area. A pedestrian coworker was killed here and a dozen more since she was killed. One photo I failed to find was one that brightly illuminated crosswalk with flashing lights at the curbs. When nighttime pedestrians were to cross, the horizontally striped crosswalk would light a vibrant yellow bright enough for vehicles to see from far away. It was one of the proposals to solve the problem, but people are still getting run down on that road daily. Rt 5 Albany to Schenectady straight as an arrow the entire 20 miles. After all was said and done, they installed only brighter street lights.
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Rory » Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:43 pm

It's quasi jokingly described as the cleanest way to commit murder and get off with a tap on the wrist. Run them down, (especially if they're a cyclist) and claim "the sun was in my eyes", or "I didn't see them, they appeared out of nowhere". The police seem to loathe cyclists in particular, and treat accident investigations involving them with the utmost contempt. It's often stated in the police report whether the cyclist was wearing a helmet or not - regardless of what the proximate cause of the collision was, and often in jurisdictions where there is no legal requirement to wear one.

Hit and runs are at an epidemic level also in parts of the US: for at least half of all injurious collisions in SoCal the driver is never identified. There is some data to support the idea that allowing illegals to have legal driving licenses has reduced this number somewhat, but it's also suggested the majority are by drunk drivers who understand the penalty for hit and run is much less severe than DUI.

Re pedestrians specifically. There are some anecdotal traffic studies at crosswalks near where I live. On a given day >80% of ticketed violations (from jaywalking, to texting while driving) were by drivers, not pedestrians. Public perception is shaped by a century of auto industry propaganda, and when reading the online comments to the study report, the focus was overwhelmingly that pedestrians were at fault, or had themselves to blame for collisions: "they don't pay attention to their surroundings", "suicidal millennials glued to their smartphones". It tickles me somewhat that there is a subtextual perception that young people are flinging themselves into the path of cars with giddy abandon.

I particularly enjoy hubris directed at scofflaw cyclists that run stop signs. Local car drivers have perfected what's called "the california roll": approach the intersection, touch the break momentarily while scanning left and right, then roll on through with little or no loss of speed. But it's only bad when someone on a push bike does it
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby brekin » Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:52 pm

Walking and miles driven are up only a few percentage points, and are unlikely to account for most of the surge in pedestrian deaths, said Richard Retting, safety director for Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants and the author of the report. Meanwhile, texting and use of wireless devices have exploded, he said.
"It's the only factor that that seems to indicate a dramatic change in how people behave," Retting said.


Yeah, gots to be the wireless devices, which were just introduced, what?, in the last couple of years.
I mean that has got to be the only factor that seems to indicate a dramatic change in how people behave lately while driving.
Oh, and fast food eating.
And putting on make up.
Yeah, thats the ticket.

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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Iamwhomiam » Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:11 pm

Not having a smart phone myself I was under the impression that with bluetooth and voice recognition software, texting could be done hands-free. If that is true, we shouldn't be tolerant of physically texting while driving. Hell, this guy just killed 13:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cBs4ldvkzQ


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRmrC0ZBFYs


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3gZgNd1AKw

In Texas there is no law outlawing texting while driving.
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby JackRiddler » Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:45 pm

On the other hand, "walking is working," she said. "Just as we need drivers to be alert, pedestrians have to be, too."


I don't know if she deserves to be run over but for this statement she deserves at least a visit to the Christian hell.

Walking is working. Citizen, be alert! Walking is working...
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Elvis » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:52 pm


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOLaKY39eF0
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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby Cordelia » Wed Apr 05, 2017 10:23 am

There's also increased life span and the steadily growing number of baby boomers becoming older drivers to consider.....

When and Why Senior Citizens Should Quit or Curb Driving

February 20, 2017

Senior citizens and driving don’t mix sometimes. Drivers over the age of 70 have higher crash rates than their middle-aged counterparts, and they’re more likely to be killed in crashes because they’re more susceptible to injury.

As we age, mobility issues, vision changes and hearing loss can impair our ability to drive safely. Many senior citizens know their own limitations and make the proper adjustments. They avoid long hours behind the wheel, or decide not to drive after dark. Yet some seniors may need some persuasion to re-evaluate their driving. How do you know when that time has come, and what should you do?

continued.....
https://www.after55.com/blog/senior-citizens-driving/

And as pedestrians.


Road Safety for Senior Citizens


Posted on March 23, 2017 by Rita Bhattacharjee

Senior citizens account for almost half of all pedestrian fatalities, meaning that seniors are almost twice as likely to be killed by an automobile as members of the general public. As a group, senior citizens are particularly dependent on safe streets for walking because many of them no longer drive.

Who do we regard as elderly or older road users?

Generally people of 65 years and older are considered to be elderly.
Rigid age boundaries do not take into consideration the fact that ageing is a process that does not start at the same age for each and every individual, nor does it progress at the same pace.
We need to acknowledge that there are large differences in driving skills between people of the same age, as well as in their physical and mental abilities.

continued....
http://differenttruths.com/relationship ... -citizens/


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Re: Victim Shaming Pedestrians

Postby 82_28 » Wed Apr 05, 2017 10:11 pm

Not only that, those senior citizens are the last people or last generation I should say, that know how to drive without some computer doing it for them. This rush to have your car do everything for you as far as safety will not work out well I do not think. For instance, one of the big things I learned at least when learning to drive was learning how to parallel park. Now you let the car do it. This is lame. It's cool and novel to a degree but it is way too much reliance upon a several ton vehicle doing it for you. I am 42 but fuck no would I ever get a car that had all that shit. Like I always say, at the very least get a car that has been well maintained from the 70s. My last two vehicles were born in the 70s. The only vehicle I own is a 1971 VW Bus. Before that it was a 1977 Dodge Tradesman.

Anyhow, I think the common reader can tell where I am going with that. Way too much reliance upon something that you should be able to do on your own.
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