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Comment by megablast | Hacker News Reader

Cars are so incredibly destructive to society, in so many ways. But most people are so blasé about them.

They really are. I’m reminded of George Miller, who created and directed the Mad Max movies. Those movies are about how cars are terrifying death machines that shred human bodies. Miller said he was “inspired” after working several years as an ER doctor, seeing the damage firsthand.

America has nearly twice the car death rate of Canada (and Canada hardly has substantially better weather or density than America). It's crazy.

The US does rate pretty high in "traffic deaths per 100k people".

But they also lead the world in how much they drive. 8,800 kilometers per capita, versus 4,300 in Canada, 7,000 in Germany and less than 1,700 in Japan.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/12/13/why-the-u-s-trails-th...

I'm sure there are other factors, but that would explain most of the difference vs Canada. Twice as much driving means twice as many traffic deaths per capita.

Edit: Yes, I agree the US has work to do either way.

Seems like something that should be rectified - the entirety of american society should be redesigned to reduce the amount of driving required.

Changing existing towns is almost impossible. It is possible to start a new town with new structure. I want to start a town with no personal powered vehicles. It's a project I've been researching for about 4 years.

But even if you look at road deaths per billion km driven, the US still scores 7.3 - more than twice Norway's 3, or the UK's 3.4, and still a fair bit more than all those other countries.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic...

Yes, the US drives more. But there's also room for improvement compared to the safest countries.

Driving more miles is a bug not a feature. America should aim to reduce its miles driven by 50-75% to get its deaths in line with similar countries.

Does anyone else feel like it's almost always a pickup truck? This article^[1] that I found a while back claims occupants of a car are 2.5 times more likely to die in a collision with a pickup truck than another car.

It's an atrocity, and it's insane to me that it's almost totally absent from the public discourse.

^[1] https://www.iihs.org/topics/vehicle-size-and-weight

There are no reasonable pickup truck safety regulations in the US. Pickup trucks are simply not safe vehicles for other individuals around them. Some are so large that you can't even see small children in front. [0]

The front of most pickup trucks is literally a flat wall, whereas most cars and SUVs have to design for potential pedestrian impact and whatnot. If you get hit by a pickup truck you will be pancaked, but if you get hit by a modern car you have a chance of surviving.

You can thank lawmakers acting on the whims of corporate lobbyists for this. [1] It makes my blood boil, how our elected representatives so casually throw away lives of their citizens.

90% of pickup truck owners don't actually need their pickup trucks, but are allowed to buy and drive these incredibly dangerous vehicles regardless. In turn, this causes an escalating arms race - everyone else feels the need to buy an SUV or other large vehicle. Vehicles get heavier, bigger, and deadlier. The cycle continues.

Part of the issue is that it's part of the self-image of red-blooded American manliness to own a pickup truck. It's ridiculous and childish, but owning a pickup truck is seen as cool and macho throughout large swaths of the country. It will be almost impossible to pass safety regulations against pickup trucks thanks to this population.

[0]: https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/the-hidden-danger...

[1]: https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?cycle=2020...

Because it is. Getting hit by a pickup truck is much closer to being hit by a semi than by a compact car. Not only the shape is similar, but pickup trucks can be multiple times heavier than cars.

Most people are blasé? Most people don't have a choice because they don't live in San Francisco or New York where billions are spent on infrastructure and proper city planning which accommodates pedestrians and public transportation.

Billions are spent on car infrastructure everywhere. The citizens have the choice and responsibility, but they continually vote from ignorance or selfishness.

It’s not about driving or not, it’s about whether you take the risks of driving seriously.

Speeding around a motorcycle while going over a hill is a good example from the article. See also: distracted driving, DWI, driving while overtired, and all sorts of other behaviors that are super common.

So many collisions are preventable if people just took driving seriously. I don’t think people are as conscious of the risks and dangers as they should be.

Most people don’t need a massive truck either.

we're kind of stuck with them for the foreseeable future aren't we though

at the very least we need stuff like roundabouts, no left turns, electric cars, etc

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