[screenbreakout]

But are we not then taking the slippery slope of an infantilisation of society? surely we need to round the sharp edges, but eliminating danger, you do away with adaptability, reaction time, self responsibility, fun.... I rollerblade on the road, some people drive dangerously just because they don't like I'm not following the rules... Also was just in Egypt, I highly enjoyed jaywalking there, less so being a car/minibus passenger , saw what looked like 6 year olds on motorcycles with their friends, kids driving cars, preteens at the helms of trucks...were there more accidents? maybe not, dunno, maybe the lack of alcohol is a reason... but ultimately I agree huge zones with no cars in cities, more space, cleaner air, less danger...

[watwut]

1.) People who drive dangerously are danger to others.

2.) Cities that don't require cars to move in are raising freedom of both kids and adults living in them. It means kids go by themselves to places sooner. It means old people are not so locked. It means parents don't have to be taxi drivers every time kid wants to try a hobby.

[ChrisMarshallNY]

I used to travel, regularly, to Tokyo.

The corporate headquarters that I traveled to, on a train, had a girls’ school, next to it.

I would often be on the train, packed with commuters, and see these tiny little girls, in their school uniforms, maybe seven or eight years old, alone, on the train.

One of the big reasons that this was possible, is because of the civil and social infrastructure of Japanese society.

This structure is one that many Americans would find stifling —for good reason, but it also means that elementary school girls can take the train, alone, to school, everyday.

[watwut]

You don't even have to go to Japan. In Germany, first graders go to school alone too. Same in Switzerland - sometimes even younger kids. I think that United States with the 11-12 years old is considered too young to go to school alone is the outlier.

[nielsole]

> were there more accidents? maybe not, dunno

Death rate per 100k inhabitants is roughly 4 times higher in Egypt compared to the US (44 vs 11) which is still quite high compared to eg Germany (4/100k)

[screenbreakout]

Could you provide a source?

per 100,000 motor vehicles per year 12.4 USA 148 Egypt

per 100,000 inhabitants per year 14.2 USA 12.8

Arnt the higher figures in Egypt because theoretically there are smaller proportion of people to the number vehicles...?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic...

[nielsole]

Egypt: 42/100k https://web.archive.org/web/20200520081209/https://www.who.i... USA: 11.1/100k https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db400.htm Germany: 2719deaths/80million =~ 3.4/100k https://www.destatis.de/EN/Themes/Society-Environment/Traffi...

Different years, different data normalization, but the general point hopefully holds.