
Distraction, on Street and Sidewalk, Helps Cause Record Pedestrian Deaths - jgrahamc
http://www.npr.org/2017/03/30/522085503/2016-saw-a-record-increase-in-pedestrian-deaths
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Tiktaalik
The main solution here is for urban planners to create streets that force
drivers to slow down and also allow pedestrians to cross easily.

We already know how to do this. We know that thinner streets cause drivers to
slow down. We know that bulges at intersections shorten the distance that
pedestrians have to cross, limiting interactions with cars. Cities need to
rebuild their streets to be safer.

The onus is on drivers to pay attention, slow down, and not kill people. It's
a reasonable expectation that a human can behave in an unexpected manner.
Drivers need to behave accordingly. Good urban design can guide them into
doing this naturally.

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ams6110
Deliberately creating obstacles to free-flowing traffic (speedbumps, chicanes,
etc.) just frustrates drivers and makes them more aggressive.

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Dylan16807
Do you have a study on that? But GP wasn't suggesting actual obstacles. Just
cutting excess width.

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im_down_w_otp
Based on driving, biking, and walking around Portland on a consistent basis;
I'm pretty sure people have straight away forgotten that cars can kill them.

I often hear something like, "I have the right of way!" as a common refrain.
So I just assume they'll be self-satisfied getting killed and having their
headstone read, "Here lies someone who was technically right."

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quicklime
This sounds a lot like victim blaming to me.

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im_down_w_otp
Riding at night, hands removed from the handlebars, no helmet, with no safety
lights or reflective gear, wearing all black, on busy street, where the only
indication of there being a person present is the faint glow of their cell
phone screen and the ember of a lit cigarette. Often extremely reactionary and
aggressive when they have a close call. Even more so when a fellow cyclist
points out how dangerous it is.

The above is a common occurrence in inner-SE Portland after hours. Especially
on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

It's fascinating from a particular perspective.

~~~
quicklime
But you were specifically talking about people who assert their legal right.
Riding at night without lights is illegal in Oregon. Perhaps those cyclists
can be blamed, but innocent pedestrians who have the right of way shouldn't
be.

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im_down_w_otp
Okay. Pedestrians looking straight down at their phone, walking full stride at
a street corner, making no attempt whatsoever to look for oncoming traffic and
strutting out into said oncoming traffic without out so much as a stutter-
step.

The above is embarrassingly coming in downtown and NW Portland.

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FullMtlAlcoholc
This may be controversial, but I feel an alarmingly large number of people do
not know how to properly cross the street on their own. They implicitly trust
the crosswalk signal without both ways and once more to the left. Even more
shocking is that people will not look up from their phones when crossing the
street.

We should always design our transportation networks to be as safe as possible
but one should take responsibility for their own life when crossing roads that
two ton missiles hurtle down. You never know when someone is going to have a
heart attack, stroke, be drunk, fall asleep at the wheel, etc. when
approaching a crossing. Just because the light gives one the go ahead does not
make it safe.

Also, too often I see pedestrians asserting their right of way to cars. Being
right isn't more important than being alive.

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orthoganol
I agree with your comment but the report also says 82% of the fatalities
occurred outside of intersections, suggesting crossings aren't the main
problem.

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imgabe
> But there's new evidence today that even walking across the street is
> getting more dangerous.

This is such an odd way to phrase it. Walking across the street is not more
dangerous. People are acting more reckless. The amount of danger is the same
as it has always been, pull your face out of your phone and look at it!

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greeneggs
And when the texting driver runs you over?

It is worth considering, but not really worth arguing about, since we don't
have the data. This NPR piece is just following the reporter's agenda and not
the study. The study does not give any suggestion that pedestrians distracted
by their phones are causing the increase. In fact, pedestrian deaths in the
top 10 cities decreased in 2016.

~~~
ams6110
As a pedestrian: Assume the approaching car won't stop.

As a driver: Assume the pedestrian at the corner will step into the road.

This is basic common sense and I don't understand why people don't get it. In
the story:

 _" It is alarming," says GHSA executive director Jonathan Adkins, "and it's
counterintuitive."_

It's not counterintuitive. It's entirely predictable that people who are not
paying attention to their surroundings and not exercising common-sense caution
and defensive behavior are going to learn the hard way.

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mjevans
Clearly the solution is 50mph speed limits. Tough on crime tactics should also
encourage pedestrians to pay more attention and if they do get hit darwinism
solves the problem.

Though to comment more seriously. I'm sick of everyone's knee-jerk reaction of
"lower speed limits". As if that makes it OK for pedestrians and cars to
interact.

The correct approach to safety is better design. Ideally provide cars and
pedestrians completely isolated levels and/or venues of travel. A stopgap
might be the installation of 'splash guards' and covered awning style
sidewalks that provide an increased physical barrier, more as a mutual
reminder that crossing the line is a bad idea. Once you've done that, it
should also be possible to provide some kind of barrier at crosswalk portals.

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jlarocco
I'm actually surprised the numbers aren't a lot higher.

The bike path I ride to work goes through the local university and is split
into three parts: one for walking, and two cycling (one for each direction).
They're clearly marked, and it gets enough traffic that most people make sure
to use the correct lane.

Almost every day, though, I ride past at least one person walking in the
cycling lanes, headphones on, eyes glued to their phone, not paying any
attention whatsoever to where they're going. Worse still, I've seen cyclists
on their phones, riding down the walk lane, or the wrong way in one of the
cycle lanes.

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mjevans
I think Capetian America: Civil War, in the beginning of the film, featured a
little safety piece about this. The "On your left" call out.

That verbal reminder is great and exactly what everyone SHOULD be doing.

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jlarocco
I would say, "obviously,", but in reality "on your left" doesn't even help
most of the time because of the headphones.

I think you're underestimating just how oblivious people can be.

~~~
ams6110
THe "on your left" call-out was commonly heard on the Lake Shore Drive
bike/pedestrian path in Chicago. Pedestrians, skaters, and cyclists mostly
coexisted without incident. It was the pre smartphone era though when I lived
there.

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tutufan
A lot of these deaths are actually _caused_ by drivers breaking the law. It
may well be that victim distraction is increasing, but looking at that as a
"cause" sounds a little bizarre.

If that's the case, these deaths will indeed decline rapidly as human (i.e.,
poor) drivers are replaced with self-driving vehicles.

