- cross-posted to:
- hackernews@lemmy.smeargle.fans
- cross-posted to:
- hackernews@lemmy.smeargle.fans
Also, 36,500 people were killed, and 4.5 million people were injured in the USA in 2019.
This report makes the mistake of blaming individuals for not wearing seatbelts and speeding, when a shift in urban design is necessary to mitigate this disaster.
We should also remark on the problem with large pickups and SUVs leading to an increase in traffic deaths.
I suspect that EVs will be added to this as well: they’re 30% heavier than the ICE counterpart and can create fires which are hot and difficult to extinguish.
The weight of trucks is a concern but secondary to their construction which is a much more rigid body that doesn’t crumple to distribute energy in a crash.
Similarly while EV fires are worse, ICE fires are relatively more common.