ArcanumNov 18, 2023
Tab Combs

This morning's bike to school included a near miss encounter with one of these high-front road tanks. The driver was flying around a curve on a downhill, and came terrifyingly close to smacking into my kid as we were finishing a turn.
Had the driver not looked up and hit the brakes, the consequences would have been deadly.

Our roads are dangerous already. We choose to make them even deadlier by refusing to regulate the vehicles on them.

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/vehicles-with-higher-more-vertical-front-ends-pose-greater-risk-to-pedestrians

Vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends pose greater risk to pedestrians

Vehicles with especially tall front ends are most dangerous to pedestrians, but a blunt profile makes medium-height vehicles deadly too.

IIHS-HLDI crash testing and highway safety
Nov 17, 2023 at 1:07pmWeb
Show threadJohn LorimerNov 17, 2023
@DrTCombs in Australia we are calling those 'cars' Wankpanzers.
Show threadPedestrianError  Nov 17, 2023
@DrTCombs The rampant immorality of people who choose to own vehicles like that AND drive like that makes it hard to have faith in humanity. Yes, we need design improvements and regulation and people in the US have been socialized to believe that driving recklessly and in giant gas guzzlers is normal, but why do so many people always seem to choose the most unethical option they are allowed? Personal responsibility has to factor into this discussion too.
Show threadPedestrianError  Nov 17, 2023
@DrTCombs Obviously the environment has a substantial role in shaping behavior and designers/builders/funders of the system have to take responsibility as leaders whose decisions have far reaching implications, but how do you even make the argument for designing a safe and sustainable transportation system when such a critical mass of the public seems to actively prefer rampant death and destruction for fun?
Show threadTab CombsNov 17, 2023
@PedestrianError Yeah, 100%.
People are making a deliberate choice when they buy and use these monsters. The social norms that allow them to think it's ok to threaten the lives of everyone around them have got to be a part of the conversation.
Show threadPedestrianError  Nov 17, 2023
@DrTCombs It does start young, too. I’ve seen little kids playing with toy monster trucks gleefully laughing about running over all the people. Someone had to teach them that was a funny idea.