In addition to the sensible measures explained in the article you should also do the thing they excluded from the analysis upfront: drive less. Move closer to your job, move closer to a train station, move to a country with proper public transport. Factor in car dependence when choosing a new job or a new home.
Crazy how relevant this article is to what I have been reading this past week. I was recently doing some research into reducing my personal existential risk, and I concurred putting more energy into reducing/mitigating the baseline risk factors in automotive crashes and road safety in general is a worthwhile effort.<p>Also recommend reading this insightful article on LessWrong by an anonymous user [0]; has a few decent actionable steps one could take to reduce the risk on the road, aside from a nice collection of most risky habits one should AVOID doing to reduce their road death risk exponentially.<p>Additionally, I'm considering using local public transport more, and even thinking of moving to cities with better, safer public transportation as there's a MASSIVE difference in fatality rates of folks using private vehicles v/s folks using public transportation. [1]<p>And, QUIT using motorbikes. Exponentially higher chances of a fatality on a two-wheeler than on four wheels. [2]<p>[0] <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7XbcDaeigMaxW43EB/how-to-avoid-dying-in-a-car-crash" rel="nofollow">https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7XbcDaeigMaxW43EB/how-to-avo...</a><p>[1] <a href="https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2017/01/car-bus-safety-research/514670/" rel="nofollow">https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2017/01/car-bus-safet...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/culture/commuting/why-i-quit-riding-motorcycles/article4405613/" rel="nofollow">https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/culture/commutin...</a>
A good piece of advice I read or heard when I first started driving was, “never trust a turn signal”. This has saved me a few times when someone had their right turn signal on but kept moving forward rather than turning right at an intersection where I was about to pull out and turn left.
><i>Do not speed.</i><p>If only it were that simple. I'd argue that on U.S. roads, there's definitely a culture of speeding, and in many circumstances drivers who fail to speed end up slowing traffic, often provoking the ire of other drivers, who in turn reduce safety even further via way of tailgating, unsafe passing, road games/road rage—all of which is a huge distraction unto itself for everyone involved.<p>On most roadways I find other drivers will expect you to go 5mph over the posted limit. On expressways, this is usually as high as 10-15mph for all but the right-most lane.<p>I feel like driver education here tends to emphasize not speeding over maintaining traffic flow and respecting the passing lane. Combine that with a bunch of aggro pricks behind the wheel, and it's a recipe for disaster.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_lane#Misuse_and_common_practice_in_the_United_States" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_lane#Misuse_and_common...</a>
Fascinating, and well studied, but I don't buy the '1 in 10 distracted'. As someone who has done tons of driving, I'd honestly put the number of distracted drivers, specifically dicking with their cell phone, somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of all drivers. And that's just my corner of the nation, I'm sure it's more in others.
> In particular, assume one person awoke today with the explicit instruction to kill you with their car.<p>My dad taught me this on day one of driving with my permit.<p>Assume everyone on the road is trying to kill you. Assume know one but you knows the rules.<p>And as you drive more, you'll gain experience in identifying the behaviors that are most likely to indicate someone who is about to try and kill you.
I have to wonder how much legal alcohol limits reduce/increase death rates.<p>Go to any sufficiently large party and there'll be some guy who's drunk after an all nighter and ready to hop in his car, asserting that it's okay because he's not drunk anymore. The dude's still drunk, but once you get worn out and start coming down, you just kind of <i>feel</i> done. It seems to me (in my uninformed view) that legal limits let these guys feel like they have some leeway and they're probably legally safe to drive (which, honestly, they might even be). It plants an idea that there's a reasonable threshold of drunkenness in which driving is still okay, which I don't think is a good idea.<p>I'm not generally a supporter of zero tolerance policies, but I think leaning that way is possibly better.<p>As a person who almost never drinks, I feel pretty off and goofy halfway through one beer. I'd probably be under the BAC limit but there's no way I'm fit to drive. I don't have confidence in my drunk driving abilities, but plenty of people do and they think they have a legal basis for it.
What about reducing your chances of killing other people?<p>As a somewhat jaded motorcyclist (though not in the US) I'm unsurprised to see no mention of us in the article. Not sure of the US stats, but in Aus the biggest dangers to motorcyclists are (a) other drivers not seeing us [1] then (b) our own stupidity.<p>Not much for anyone but motorcyclists to do about (b), but I would make some appeals to car drivers:<p>Think about motorcyclists at junctions - we're not actually invisible, and what you miss seeing is primarily a function of your own inculcated habits of observation.<p>Don't tailgate motorcycles. It's frightening and forces us to deploy more attention behind us than is safe.<p>On undivided roads, stay to your side of the road on bends, even if there are puddles or potholes.<p>Thanks.<p>[1. known here in Australia as a SMIDSY - 'sorry mate I didn't see you']
It seems to me that you can’t conclude that speeding causes accidents from these statistics. If people speed 30% of the time, then accidents will involve speeding 30% of the time if speeding doesn’t influence the risk at all. I would also expect the amount of speeding to matter a lot.
If you don't want to read the whole thing, scroll down to "Table 1" which summarizes the whole thing into action steps.<p>The rest of the article is basically describing where the data came from.<p>Another good thing to read is the text near "Figure 1".
Not in the article scope but something worth considering if automotive safety is truly a top concern... I'm under the impression that placing all occupants in rear-facing seats reduces fatalities. This extended claim is often made when reading about infant and child automotive safety. If true, all passenger vehicles going forward could be built this way. (And when Level 5 automated driving is available, drivers become rear-facing passengers.) Cars, vans, buses, ... starting now.<p>OTOH, "the view is worse" sentiment may be culturally strong enough to cast a blind spot, so to speak, over such evidence.
Three things I do:
- avoid left turns like the plague
- always have a good grip on the wheel, mostly 2 hands (easier when I had a less comfortable car)
- when stopping at a turn, put your steering wheel in an angle that will cause you not to full on drive into opposite traffic if someone happens to rear end you (fun experience to be pushed through the corner with 80 km/h, narrowly missing oncoming car also going 80 km/h)
Edit: I'm putting this up top because I misread, the aircraft advice mentioned is about helicopters in New York. It may be applicable there.<p>Always flying a twin is highly debatable, and only really counts once you're up to transport category aircraft (which you all fly on, don't worry).
All States need to pass laws that when walking along roads without sidewalks pedestrians must wear full bright reflective safety vests.<p>I'm amazed at the people I see dressed in all black, schlepping down a two lane road with their back to traffic for they side the are walking on while wearing ear buds or headphones.<p>I have outstanding night vision, but in the last 6 months I've narrowly missed clipping 3 different people. Even with high beams on it's amazing how easy it is for pedestrians to get lost in the background.
Another thing that you can do is drive a late model SUV. The late model can proved things like lane keeping assistance, automatic emergency braking as well as thinks like automatic traction control and curtain air bags. The SUV’s large size means that the vehicle’s body can absorb more of the energy of an impact.