[agumonkey]

There was an article about crash statistics on roads that used to be surrounded by tree lanes [1]. There were as many accidents with or without the trees. Removing the trees avoids the opportunities to crash into them, so now people drive faster and carelessly.

I also think stress, in healthy dose, is necessary. I'd bet heavy on decay as a result of removing it. Until the potential self-driving car future where people won't even have to think about driving and will find other ways to be proactive.

[1] http://a395.idata.over-blog.com/1/74/49/41/SPECIALITES-GOURM...

[eru]

Same number of crashes, but people can drive faster? That's a win in my book.

[agumonkey]

Heh, fair point, we have different value systems. I'm for same speed / lower accidents, especially dumber ones. These days speed gets all the rage but in my mind we should aim for lower tempo, more density.

[eru]

Oh, lower accidents, same speed is also good. Anything that improves on the pareto frontier!

[robotresearcher]

Crash outcomes are worse at high speeds.

[eru]

That's true. So the sum of outcomes is worse here?