You must log in or # to comment.
Big ass trucks can’t see pedestrians immediately in front and to the side of them because they’re so tall.
Had a friend in tenth grade die that way, large truck hit him while he was crossing an intersection on a bike (they didn’t stop at a stop sign). Even on the bike he wasn’t tall enough to be seen over the hood.
And not just big ass trucks. I sat in a toyota highlander the other day and the hood was tall and massive. Why? Just for style. It has a small 4 cylinder. The nhtsa or whoever needs to add a car safety category for visibility. Until then massive grills and low visibility will be the norm.
Ironically pedestrian crumple zone requirements mean biggers hoods.
This doesn’t surprise me. I’m always so nervous, every driver seems so distracted. I hear everyone wants to keep their autonomy to drive, (this is in theory if autonomous driving was safe or the roads had rails for example) but they also want to look at their phones and do other shit. 😩
It’s not the drivers. I suppose you could say drivers have become slightly more distracted due to touchscreen consoles, but the real issue is vehicles keep getting larger and pedestrians no longer ride up the hood onto the roof when being hit by a car. Instead you are hit by a 5 foot tall wall (grill) and die, and the driver doesn’t brake because they never even saw you due to the enormous blind spot in front of their truck/suv
EDIT: I’m getting a disturbing amount of pushback on this comment, so I’m dropping this video here: These Stupid Trucks are Literally Killing Us | Not Just Bikes
It feels dishonest to say it isn’t drivers. You could see them coming from the sides more if you pay more attention?
Is driving with a blind spot NOT something we are taught to check and eliminate and are the fault of the driver to chose that vehicle/not adjusting or getting mirrors, not driving slower, etc?
I think we’re lying to ourselves if we don’t think people could do better.
I edited my post to include a video I highly recommend you watch as it will better explain what I was saying.
Oh wow. One event! Definitely clearly we don’t have a road full of people who were teens who halfassed their license in big vehicles they likely should have more license to handle.
But you know. We currently dont have a federal standards for regular class C i am sure we can definitely just get smaller cars made, that’ll fix underqualified drivers.
You tell me a story of a driver who doesn’t pay attention to the number of people who enter and leave the walkways and the car is the issue?
I’d rather meet the consequences of being late, then being an unsafe driver.
Just take a moment to slow down, and look out for pedestrian crossing signs. Drive the speed limit, You will make it to your destination, it’s not a race.
People have been driving like goddamn maniacs ever since the pandemic. It’s like the lack of traffic hit a reset switch and made everyone forget how to behave.
deleted by creator
The growth of SUVs and big ass trucks with big ass blind spots in front of them are major factors in this.
You’re sure? I’m not from the U.S. I heard you better pay close attention to the cars or you might get run over. Your best bet is to buy a large SUV or truck to be safe inside that thing on the roads. The article also says that. I’m not trying to be overly sarcastic here. But normally, people who operate heavy machinery are the ones supposed to be attentive and look out. There are countries where people walk or drive bicycles and it kinda works. Also whole big cities like NYC where people live without driving everywhere themselves.
When I walk along a street, I count the number of drivers I see using their phones. It’s been a consistent 50%. And the ones who aren’t on their phones tend to be elderly. So what’s surprising about an increase in pedestrian deaths?
