After noticeable declines in pedestrian deaths from car drivers until 2008 or so, we've been dying at higher rates since then. Aside from the rise of smart phones and the related distracted driving, I wonder if the increased popularity of these has anything to do with it?
I remember when the Dodge Ram trucks were redesigned to look the way they do in this first picture. I remember my reaction to its obviously aggressive, bullish profile. It stood out at the time, but was then followed by Ford...
... with this grille that looks like it's meant to smash walls...
...and modified trucks with bull bars like this one that literally are meant to smash walls.
I see these giant pickup trucks everyday, everywhere. The red truck is a photo I took yesterday. The top two images, though, came from Twitter tonight, and were accompanied by these two comments:
Martyn Schmoll wrote this about the Dodge:
Pedestrians: wear bright or reflective clothing, remove earbuds, make eye contact with drivers, cross only at crosswalks, never talk, text or use electronic devices in an intersection. Drivers: carry on.@TheCritninja wrote this about the Ford:
Totally reasonable inner city transport choice (the edge of the hood is at my neck).That's not an exaggeration. These trucks are very tall, which means when they hit a pedestrian they do a lot more damage than a lower vehicle would. (It also means they have a higher center of gravity and roll over more easily.) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has documented the increase in pedestrian deaths and how much of it was from SUVs.
People are driving around in almost literal tanks, and I wonder what anthropologists make of this aspect of American culture?
3 comments:
I hate those trucks so much. They're so ridiculously huge and menacing, and their drivers invariably seem to be far too aggressive. (Not to mention that I think some of the locals do something to the engine to make them belch black smoke too.) I live in a fairly rural area and people do need trucks, but these are only barely workhorses; they're showoffs.
Yes! Have you heard of the "rolling coal" phenomeon, where truck folks attach big pipes that belch black smoke?
Yes, I have! I haven't actually seen any trucks with those big obvious pipes (I live in CA and I bet that would get you in trouble), but I suspect they're doing something similar but more subtle. I just don't know how it works. It's unbelievable to me that some people are such jerks that they would deliberately blow grody smoke at others.
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