War on cars

[bychosis]

A ‘news’ article I saw regarding the tree in the road mentioned it had been there for two years. One of the comments from the public was along the lines of it will be a hazard if a driver is distracted.

So:
1. It’s been there for a while without being hit so its not a massive hazard
2. Maybe it will help drivers to not be distracted because when you need to expect the unexpected you drive with attention.

If you can't see that tree when you drive down that road then you shouldn't be driving full stop

We’ve dumbed down road safety design so much in this country that many drivers expect that they can drive at the posted speed limit while looking at a phone and not expect anything out of the ordinary to happen. We need more chaos to learn to be good drivers again.

[Comedian]

A ‘news’ article I saw regarding the tree in the road mentioned it had been there for two years. One of the comments from the public was along the lines of it will be a hazard if a driver is distracted.

So:
1. It’s been there for a while without being hit so its not a massive hazard
2. Maybe it will help drivers to not be distracted because when you need to expect the unexpected you drive with attention.

If you can't see that tree when you drive down that road then you shouldn't be driving full stop

We’ve dumbed down road safety design so much in this country that many drivers expect that they can drive at the posted speed limit while looking at a phone and not expect anything out of the ordinary to happen. We need more chaos to learn to be good drivers again.

So.. my theory is the only way we are going to fix all this is by fitting black box recorders in cars. In the event of a crash the last two minutes of video and the whole lot will be available to police.

People won't be happy - but asking them nicely isn't working. This way they can be held accountable. The tech is all there now (and some cars are already doing this). We just need to add video to complete the system.

[Shred11]

I came across this PDF report on another forum (site has a recently expired certificate, so your browser may complain):

https://cameracommissioner.vic.gov.au/p ... ed-drivers

It's based on analysis of the statistics of corporate owned motor vehicles, where the owner claimed that they could not identify the driver and instead paid the $3000 "failure to nominate driver" fine.

Here are a few juicy bits that make me extremely angry:

19 According to the data received, during the period 01 July 2016 to 30 June 2018, there were
274 different vehicles with 5 or more loss of licence events. The worst example appears,
according to the data, to have 31 Loss of Licence Events in that 24 month period.

20 According to the data received, during the period 01 July 2016 to 30 June 2018, there were
730 different vehicles with 7 or more infringements, dealt with as corporate infringements
without nominating the driver.

21 According to the data received, during the period 01 July 2016 to 30 June 2018, there were
47 vehicles which have avoided 100 or more demerit points each, dealt with as corporate
infringements and without nominating the driver. The worst example has avoided 213 demerit
points.

There's a significant difference in the percentage of drivers successfully nominated and drivers "unable to be identified" when the offense involves a Loss of Licence Event (LoLE):

• 7.87% of infringements with potential demerit points to heavy vehicles are paid as
corporate and the driver is not nominated
• 10.13% of infringements with potential demerit points to non-heavy vehicles are
paid as corporate and the driver is not nominated
• 29.14% of LoLE issued to heavy vehicles are paid as corporate and the driver is not
nominated
• 43.24% of LoLE issued to non-heavy vehicles are paid as corporate and the driver is
not nominated

[mikesbytes]

Another loophole that has been filled was having the car registered to someone who didn't have a drivers licence. I understand that in NSW the vehicle can only be registered to someone who has a drivers license nowadays but how does this work with vehicles owned by a company?

[outnabike]

Once upon a time some one suggested a bar code be fitted to all cars and readers placed on the roads. Imaging being able to track any care day or night and even speeds in between corners.
The didn't go ahead with it probably because no one would have their license in a weeks time....

[antigee]

Another loophole that has been filled was having the car registered to someone who didn't have a drivers licence. I understand that in NSW the vehicle can only be registered to someone who has a drivers license nowadays but how does this work with vehicles owned by a company?

not quite the same but a couple of months back there was a few news articles covering how company's not naming drivers keeps drivers with excess demerit points on the road.... [edit is the same issue]


https://7news.com.au/news/crime/vic-com ... e-c-469465

Victoria's government has pledged to crack down on the practice of companies paying a $3000 fine without naming who was driving a speeding vehicle.
For the two years up to July 2018 there were 53,845 cases in which companies failed to nominate a driver, the state's Road Safety Camera Commissioner reported on Tuesday.
This meant the offending parties avoided demerit points and fines of hundreds of dollars.
More than 4200 of the drivers caught on camera would have lost their licence if the companies hadn't taken the fall, the reports showed"

[opik_bidin]

https://www.theage.com.au/national/vict ... 53fcl.html

People walk to the shops more than twice as often as shopkeepers believe in some Melbourne areas, suggesting traders may be hurting themselves when they campaign for more parking spaces.

While traders associations insist they can't afford to lose any parking spots, an analysis of Melbourne shopping strips has found a greater focus on pedestrian amenities, such as improving walkways and building pedestrian plazas, could increase shopper numbers.

[Thoglette]

People walk to the shops more than twice as often as shopkeepers believe in some Melbourne areas, suggesting traders may be hurting themselves when they campaign for more parking spaces.

The funny bit is this

Dr Ben Rossiter, executive officer of Victoria Walks, said most business owners drove to work so assumed their customers travelled the same way.

followed by a string of quotations from business owners and representatives asserting the belief that "cars are the thing"

Hilarious, really

[opik_bidin]

Bigger cars, more emotional drivers, More crashes, more death

https://www.drive.com.au/news/vfacts-no ... 22892.html

The top three brands were Toyota, Mitsubishi and Hyundai, and the top three models were the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger (which beat its rival in the 4x4 segment but not the 4x2 or overall), and the Mitsubishi Triton, Yep, all utes.

[opik_bidin]

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/12/13/ ... o-society/

80 percent of fatal crashes since 2018 were caused by male car drivers — and 41 percent of men who caused fatal crashes over the same period were driving pickups or SUVs.

That problem is getting worse, with men having caused 78 percent of the crashes between 2013 and 2017 — 32 percent of them in SUVs.

Men comprise 57 percent of SUV purchasers and 86 percent of truck purchasers, data show. Both styles of cars are heavily marketed to men. And both styles of cars have a disproportionate role in the rise in pedestrian deaths, which are up 50 percent nationally since 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

[Mozziediver]

Ya gunna take their Yoots?

[fat and old]

That's an interesting method of attack...jumping onto the "gender war" bandwagon.

[mikesbytes]

Unless the data has been normalised with usage data and cross compared with other statistics such as age, employment, geographic then we don't know if there's a correlation with the vehicle type or the purchasing preference has a correlation with other higher risk demographics

[AdelaidePeter]

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/12/13/ ... o-society/

80 percent of fatal crashes since 2018 were caused by male car drivers — and 41 percent of men who caused fatal crashes over the same period were driving pickups or SUVs.

That problem is getting worse, with men having caused 78 percent of the crashes between 2013 and 2017 — 32 percent of them in SUVs.

OK, first point, it is not that men caused 78% of fatal crashes, it is that the driver was male in 78% of fatal crashes. Though I suspect the numbers would be similar anyway.

I am not sure if a jump from 78% (averaged over 5 years) to 80% is statistically significant.

Anyway, I thought it was well known that males were over-represented in road deaths. Road safety ads do seem to be more targetted to men; though perhaps that is due to sexism rather than a concerted effort to target men.

[Mububban]

That's an interesting method of attack...jumping onto the "gender war" bandwagon.

Why are these stats seen through the lens of "man hating"? Let's face reality, men injure/kill ourselves (and others) more because we take more risks. My son will say "that's a great idea!" to something silly while my daughter says "hang on, I might get hurt if I do that." It's just a thing, not pro-women or anti-men, it's just different. We men climb the tallest mountains and fly the first jet plane etc, but we also end up frozen to death or die in a fireball because we choose to take that risk in order to get the potential reward. If my kids watch Fail videos on Youtube, it's >90% males.

Classic example many of us may have seen this week:

[fat and old]

That's an interesting method of attack...jumping onto the "gender war" bandwagon.

Why are these stats seen through the lens of "man hating"?

I see it as it's presented. I believe it's a deliberate act to present the story in this manner. Not sure what else to say.

Let's face reality, men injure/kill ourselves (and others) more because we take more risks. My son will say "that's a great idea!" to something silly while my daughter says "hang on, I might get hurt if I do that." It's just a thing, not pro-women or anti-men, it's just different. We men climb the tallest mountains and fly the first jet plane etc, but we also end up frozen to death or die in a fireball because we choose to take that risk in order to get the potential reward.

Oh yeah, I agree with that

If my kids watch Fail videos on Youtube, it's >90% males.

I limit my personal viewing to girl fails I'm a misogynistic white middle aged male according to The Guardian. I may as well reap the benefits and act it.



I like the way the door popped up at the end...."He's ok folks"!!

[opik_bidin]

https://mobile.twitter.com/BrentToderia ... 1632537602

In 2012, Ghent Belgium’s bike trip mode share was 22%, & they wanted to get to 35% by 2030. Thru smart, decisive action, they reached 35% by 2019, in just 7 years, 11 YEARS EARLY! @Streetfilms
tells the #Ghent story that I learned working there this year.

READ:
https://www.transportenvironment.org/ne ... ur-traffic
- 12% fewer rush hour cars
- 40% fewer cars on main bike routes
- 25% more people on bikes
- 28% more public transit use
- 18% better city centre air quality

The City of #Ghent’s Circulation Plan is DEFINITELY worth studying.

[London Boy]

I came across this PDF report on another forum (site has a recently expired certificate, so your browser may complain):

https://cameracommissioner.vic.gov.au/p ... ed-drivers

It's based on analysis of the statistics of corporate owned motor vehicles, where the owner claimed that they could not identify the driver and instead paid the $3000 "failure to nominate driver" fine.

Perhaps we should lobby to have the points applied to the Chief Executive and/or Chair?

[mikesbytes]

Ever wondered why there is a lack of funds for new bike paths?

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victori ... 53m0b.html

[opik_bidin]

Ever wondered why there is a lack of funds for new bike paths?

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victori ... 53m0b.html

Its just the allocation

But in this case, it shows how important Land and Zoning is, and people will realise how important it is when they got evicted or can't do what they want with their land because of Zoning.

For Speculators however, they buy land and then wait....no, thy lobby foir it to be changed for a more profitable "Zoning" which is mainly residential

so Industrial or natural areas are lobbied to be changed to residential usually)

the trap here is Industrial areas are usually toxic and can have problems

[opik_bidin]

Victim blaming by the car lobby goes a long way, they even do it to their own, even its a police on duty, this is in Canada

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-new ... killed-her

Beckettwas killed when her marked police car was struck broadside

Kenneth Jacob Fenton pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death — a blood sample drawn at Victoria General Hospital showed he was more than 3.5 times the legal limit — and dangerous driving causing death. He was sentenced to four years in prison

ICBC’s response, however, filed on May 25, 2018, said the collision was caused by Beckett’s negligence. The insurance corporation charged that Beckett failed to keep a proper lookout, failed to see Fenton’s truck at a reasonable time and failed to drive her car in a careful and prudent manner, and that she operated the police car at an excessive rate of speed and failed to keep the car under control

-----------------

They even had to write an open letter about it

https://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/newsroo ... dec21.aspx

On behalf of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, I am deeply sorry about the legal documents we filed related to the tragic collision that took the life of Constable Sarah Beckett. The decision to suggest Constable Beckett was liable for this collision in the initial legal documents was wholly inappropriate and we are instructing our counsel to immediately amend the defence to acknowledge Mr. Fenton is fully liable.

[outnabike]

Ever wondered why there is a lack of funds for new bike paths?

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victori ... 53m0b.html

Yep and due to getting 12 mill over what they paid, that company is cashed up, still taking the Government to court for millions extra.

[Thoglette]

Well, here's an interesting (if NSW centric) chart



(from The Conversation discussing why a Proposed EV tax is a bad idea

(Apologies to Lori Lieberman and Messrs. Fox & Gimbel)

[AdelaidePeter]

(from The Conversation discussing why a Proposed EV tax is a bad idea

The source for this is "Cleaner and Safer Roads for NSW" by the Electric Vehicle Council and Asthma Australia https://electricvehiclecouncil.com.au/w ... Single.pdf ; which in turn cites:

'Schofield et al. (2017), "Submission on the “Better fuel for cleaner air” discussion paper', Melbourne Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub / Melbourne Energy Institute https://nespurban.edu.au/wp-content/upl ... ar2017.pdf

[Thoglette]

Schofield et al. (2017),