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by Freeaqingme 1367 days ago
Would it not be way more useful if the NTSB focused on road design? As someone from Europe I oftentimes see very wide roads in the USA with a maximum speed of 15 mph or something, their design does not stop one from driving 50+ mph, however. In Europe, you often see that if there's a lower maximum speed, the width of the road is reduced, and obstacles are placed to ensure you actually can't drive significantly faster than allowed.

Also, smaller streets will typically lead to less distracted drivers, because it requires a certain level of concentration to navigate these streets.

Oh, and something about enormous SUV's that won't make traffic any safer...
2 comments
aeharding 1367 days ago
Yup. This drunk driving detection is just a symptom of the larger problem: car dependency.

You don’t need alcohol detection in cars if everyone can just walk or bus safely to their neighborhood bar or friends. Virtually nobody wants to drive drunk, but it’s basically encouraged by the way we design our cities.

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wink 1367 days ago
Dunno, we had a lot of drunk driving here in the past, especially in the 70s and 80s when I believe my parents' stories. This is in a European city that's not a huge sprawl and with public transport. Yes, it's worse on the countryside, but I think it has gone down enough that it's not JUST a symptom of mainly car dependency.
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TrueGeek 1367 days ago
I don't know that I've ever seen a road in the USA with a limit as low as 15. The road my house is on has a limit of 25, no sidewalks although children attempt to walk on it since the community swimming pool is at the end, and people regularly drive 35+. The road it connects to has a limit of 45 and no shoulder (although, amazingly I've still seen people attempting to walk on it too!) and I've seen people that must have been going 90 mph.

As you say, the roads in Europe are much different. The speed limits are MUCH lower and the roads are designed such that you really can't go much faster. If we invested in safer roads and public transportation a lot of our problems with cars would solve themselves.

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