Stubby Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I'm a little dismayed by what seems to be a relapse in road safety in my home State in the last few days. In my job I am required to read crash reports, assess responsibility (in a civil sense) and to assess damages payable to injured persons (or the estates of deceased people). The number of crashes that sound totally preventable that cause serious injury and/or death is getting to me. Since Friday, 6 people have been killed around the State, in 6 different crashes. This news article summarises what has happened (it only refers to 5 crashes but another motorcyclist died yesterday about the time the article was published). In addition to those deaths, there have been a number of very serious crashes involving serious/permanent injuries. This occurs against a background of stronger traffic laws, heavy and graphic advertising campaigns and prolonged driver training procedures. The six deaths in the last few days have been caused by: - a head-on due to overtaking when unsafe- a rollover where the person who died was the only one injured - where it seems she was not wearing her seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle- a hit and run on a cyclist by a driver that was (allegedly) intoxicated- another head-on due to unsafe overtaking- a motorcyclist knocked from his machine by a turning driver- a motorcyclist that apparently lost control of his machine at high speed on a suburban road (a single vehicle accident) It seems to me that all of them were preventable with a bit of patience, responsible motoring and/or simply paying attention to what is on the road. So what are the big road safety issues in your regions? Is it speeding? Lack of attention? Fatigue? Poor road design and/or traffic management? Something else? Are motorists in your area just too blase about the whole controlling a machine thing? Is road safety improving or regressing in your area and, if so, do you know why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I saw there is another push for stricter licensing restrictions on P Platers in NSW and I just wonder whether there is even proof that they are making an appreciable difference given how much stricter our laws are compared to many other countries. If the evidence is there then OK, I just want to make sure it is...it strikes me that young people are just idiots around cars and rules aren't changing that, what is really needed is to shake their confidence :p They need to be scared of driving and aware that they are running around in a mass of metal that is a deadly weapon instead of thinking they are invincible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 This will be short as it's difficult to post from my phone while driving. But I think that between the newest safety features that make people feel invincible in their cars, traffic engineering that is designed for throughput not safety, and cell phones that are far too tempting due to the rote nature of driving, road safety isn't exactly great. But on the other hand I would expect that there are probably less fatalities nowadays (controlled for number of drivers/amount of driving/etc) than there used to be--just more than there could/should be. Haven't looked in to the stats on that though so could be way wrong. I can't remember which car company, but there is a commercial that plays right now in the States that is supposed to advertise driving aids/safety features like blind spot detection and such. The driver's inner monologue--worried about work, etc--is the voiceover. And every time I see it I just think "Fuck, we've given up." Seriously, driving is dangerous. People need to pay more attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubby Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 And every time I see it I just think "Fuck, we've given up." Seriously, driving is dangerous. People need to pay more attention. Yeah the feeling is a bit like that. Good (if that can be "good") way to describe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted01 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 In Cornwall, the main issue I've seen is people being stupid. The roads can be dangerous at the best of times, but with any adverse weather, they become treacherous. While driving to uni, I saw multiple crashes, usually in the same spots, and usually because one person was impatient, and tried to overtake on a corner. People also go too fast. A road may be 60mph, but you'd better drop the fuck down to 40 if you want to get round that corner in one piece. They either don't know the roads and get a nasty surprise, or they grew up around there and got cocky. I once saw a woman reading a card while driving on a dual carriageway in Plymouth.Where I live now, we have an overspill of "London driving". Aggressive drivers, shooting out of junctions and at roundabouts, getting up your arse and flashing their lights because you're going to slow (the speed limit), and generally being arseholes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamSongs Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I never used cruise control with my Chevy Cavalier. I did use it with the Miata on the way up to ConCarolinas in June. I have decided that it is a good feature to give your foot a break, but not good for highway/interstate cruising for a long period of time. I found myself getting inattentive and weaving in and out of traffic to maintain my cruise control speed. That is dangerous in the SE USA when the late afternoon storms hit after a hot day...the macadam oozes oil and mixes with rainwater to create hazardous conditions. Drivers should always be prepared for the environment and other unsafe drivers. Newer vehicle features only provide a false sense of security to safe, careful drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywolf2375 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Around me I feel it is regressing. I think a growing number of drivers are relying on the vehicle to instruct them in some way rather than actually paying attention on their own - and that isn't even including distracted driving with phones, radio fiddling, etc. Just this morning we saw a car drive straight through a red light - full red, not "yellow-turning-to-red-orange" - and almost get t-boned by the oncoming traffic. They went through the intersection at probably 45 - if the cars with the green had taken off at the green, it would have been a horrific hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Over the years there's been a lot of change to road layouts where I live, because there's been some pretty crap road design down the years. The most egregious being a motorway (70mph limit, if you're unaware) off-junction feeding directly into a roundabout that's huge and has a hill in the middle unsighting the other side, also fed by two slower roads and a car park. This led to the motorway traffic constantly misjudging their and everyone else's speed, and there was at least a minor smash pretty much daily.They sorted that (via chopping the hill and traffic lights on the roundabout) and several other issues within the town, more or less, but there's still two pretty notorious accident blackspots on two major roads just outside that they don't seem to know how to deal with. One is a road that I think is just too narrow for the speed and volume of the traffic it carries - it really should be a dual carriageway, but instead it's a single, pretty narrow, surrounded by trees and with several unsighted bends. So yeah, motorist stupidity is a part of it, but there's certainly things road planners can do.The big road safety push in the UK right now is motorcyclists. And as much as motorists do need to be aware, motorcyclists, I'm afraid, often ride stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted01 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 The big road safety push in the UK right now is motorcyclists. And as much as motorists do need to be aware, motorcyclists, I'm afraid, often ride stupid. This is true of cyclists too. I had a cyclist almost fall into my window the other week because he pulled up beside me too quickly. He then proceeded to cut across me on a roundabout. It's a good thing I was already wary of him and kept back, else there would have been a squashed cyclist. Or at least a damaged expensive-looking bike. I hate having cyclists on the roads, and would gladly welcome more cycle paths being introduced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Walker Texas Ranger Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Seriously, driving is dangerous. People need to pay more attention. True, but we're only human. Bring on the driverless cars. ETA: Developing computerized systems to assist and eventually replace drivers is going to be a lot easier than getting every driver to pay full attention to their car and surroundings and at all times without getting fatigued. Unless you're willing to give everyone meth or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I hate having cyclists on the roads, and would gladly welcome more cycle paths being introduced. I agree with the cycle-paths bit. Because bikes on the roads are bad, but I currently live in Berlin, where cycling on the pavement is allowed, and they're a fucking menace to pedestrians (even though there are also hundreds of cycle-paths). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Tony of House Stark Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 the drivers in my town have been ranked the word in the world. i cannot wait tip i leave and go back to the country where people can actually drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nox Irradiata Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I live in a state (Hawaii) where riding in the bed of a pickup truck without restraints is perfectly fine, and routinely see people sitting up on top of the toolbox area. Seems ridiculously unsafe to me, but it's totally legal here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loge Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I agree with the cycle-paths bit. Because bikes on the roads are bad, but I currently live in Berlin, where cycling on the pavement is allowed, and they're a fucking menace to pedestrians (even though there are also hundreds of cycle-paths). Cycling on the pavement is most definitely not allowed. Cycle-paths are death traps for cyclists because they will be run over on crossings by right-turning cars. That's why many of them prefer to use the road. The only vialble solution would be a separate road network for cyclists, but that's not easily accomlished and definielty wouldn't come cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted01 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I've never seen a cycle path like that. When they run next to a pedestrian path (which they usually do), the cyclists are supposed to cross the road alongside the pedestrians, and then continue along their lane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch-MaesterPhilip Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 NYC just lowered the speed limit on city streets from 35MPH to 25MPH in the name of safety but with all the speed cameras popping up around the city I think it is more of a money grab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stannis Eats No Peaches Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I agree with the cycle-paths bit. Because bikes on the roads are bad, but I currently live in Berlin, where cycling on the pavement is allowed, and they're a fucking menace to pedestrians (even though there are also hundreds of cycle-paths).I went to Berlin couple of years ago and remember almost being hit by a cyclist on the pavement. I'm all for more cyclists, but we need more cycle paths as I see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Cycling on the pavement is most definitely not allowed. In Berlin? If it's illegal, it's so laxly enforced that it might as well not be. Cycle-paths are death traps for cyclists because they will be run over on crossings by right-turning cars. Why would they be any more likely to be run over than a pedestrian, or if they're on the road/in a bike lane on the road? As Drac says, being in a separate lane doesn't mean they get to ignore traffic lights. Although some seem to think it does. I went to Berlin couple of years ago and remember almost being hit by a cyclist on the pavement. It's definitely a hazard. I met a mate on Saturday who'd spent the week here, and one of the very first things he said to me was 'so... what do you think of the bikes here then?'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted01 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Cambridge is a law unto itself regarding cyclists. As is Leuven in Belgium. I would hate to drive in either of those places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loge Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 In Berlin? If it's illegal, it's so laxly enforced that it might as well not be. Why would they be any more likely to be run over than a pedestrian, or if they're on the road/in a bike lane on the road? As Drac says, being in a separate lane doesn't mean they get to ignore traffic lights. Although some seem to think it does. It definitely is illegal. Lack of enforcement is the issue here. Cyclists are faster than pedestrians. Most drivers underestimate their speed. And there usually is a line of parked cars between the road and the cycle path. Cyclists on the road are annoying but at least the drivers see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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