Autonomous Cars

[Just_a_fan]

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Some statistics are beyond our control. I mean, every car has seatbelts, but roughly 60% of all road fatalities are unbuckled. No matter how safe/controlled things become, there will always be outlier statistics, and those that pay the ultimate price for their bad decisions.

Presumably that's a US statistic.

[Zynerji]

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Some statistics are beyond our control. I mean, every car has seatbelts, but roughly 60% of all road fatalities are unbuckled. No matter how safe/controlled things become, there will always be outlier statistics, and those that pay the ultimate price for their bad decisions.

Presumably that's a US statistic.

I just saw it on a highway sign this morning, so probably even more local to the US state of Missouri.

[subcritical71]

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Some statistics are beyond our control. I mean, every car has seatbelts, but roughly 60% of all road fatalities are unbuckled. No matter how safe/controlled things become, there will always be outlier statistics, and those that pay the ultimate price for their bad decisions.

Presumably that's a US statistic.

I just saw it on a highway sign this morning, so probably even more local to the US state of Missouri.

I grew up in the era of seat belt laws were just coming into effect. I remember giving my parents hell when they told me to buckle up. Fast forward to today and I feel naked if I'm not wearing a seatbelt. On the odd occasion I forget I also feel like something is wrong until I realize I haven't buckled up. I can believe that 60% of fatalities are a result of being unbuckled, it's absolutely dangerous. But I wonder how low the percentage of drivers/passengers do not wear seatbelts? A quick google search shows 15% do not wear seatbelts... being responsible for 60% of all fatalities shows you how dangerous it it (I wonder what percentage of those 15% of drivers have ever been stuck in their car after an accident and unable to get out -> leading reason not to wear seatbelts)

[strad]

58% of police-reported fatal car accidents in the US involved only one vehicle. (Source: https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/)

Death rates from road traffic accidents are three times higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries. (WHO, 2018) (Source: https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/)

More than 900 people a year die and nearly 2,000 are injured as a result of vehicles running red lights (Source: https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/)

A total of 7,488 passenger vehicle occupants died in rollover crashes in 2016. 28% of these did not involve any other impact. (IIHS, 2018) (Source: https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/)

Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are nearly three times more likely than drivers aged 20 and older to be in a fatal crash. (Source: https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/)

Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds. At 55 mph, that's like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed. (NHTSA, 2018) One in three teens who text say they have done so while driving. (NHTSA, 2018) Dialing a phone number while driving increases a teen's risk of crashing by six times. (NHTSA, 2018) One in four drivers used a cell phone right before they were involved in a crash. (Chicago Tribune, 2017) 96% of surveyed drivers consider themselves a safe driver, but 56% admit to using the phone while driving. (Everquote, 2016) Dialing a phone is the most dangerous distraction, increasing a driver's chance of crashing by 12 times. (Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 2016) Reading or writing increased the risk of crashing by 10 times. (Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 2016) Driving while crying or visibly angry increased risk of crashing by 10 times. (Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 2016) Using hands-free devices is still 4 times more distracting than talking to a passenger. (Driver's Alert, 2017) Over 80% of drivers admit to blatantly hazardous behavior while driving, such as changing clothes, steering with a foot, painting nails, or even shaving. (TeenSafe, 2018) The largest cause of distracted driving crashes—coming in at 62%—is a driver being lost in thought or letting their mind wander. (TeenSafe, 2018) 20% of drivers say they’ve styled their hair from behind the wheel. (TeenSafe, 2018) A manual transmission vehicles double the chances of distracted driving crashes caused by food consumption. (Drive-Safely.net, 2019) Cell phone apps are one reason behind the increase of distracted driving, as apps like Snapchat record the speed of a vehicle, the navigation app Waze rewards drivers for reporting traffic conditions in the moment, and games like Pokemon Go encourages drivers to search for virtual creatures along roads and highways. (New York Times, 2016) Distracted driving in the US may be under-reported because many state crash-report forms don’t have a field or code for many forms of distraction. (National Safety Council, 2017) Men are more likely than women to engage in distracting behavior; more than twice as many men watched a video. (Consumer Reports, 2017) Texting and Driving Accident Statistics 1 out of 3 people text while driving. (Driver Knowledge, 2019) Texting while driving increases the risk of crashing by 23 times. (NHTSA, 2018) 47 of the 50 US states ban texting while driving, and 15 states ban drivers from hand-held phone use. (FCC, 2017) Texting increases your chances of rear-ending someone by a multiple of 7. (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2018) While the maximum amount of time a driver can safely divert their attention from the road from is two seconds, it takes a driver five seconds – on average – to send a text message. (TeenSafe, 2018) Each day, 11 teens die in crashes caused by texting and driving. (TeenSafe, 2018) 82% of American teens have a cell phone. 52% of these teens note that they talk on the phone while driving and 32% text on the road. (TeenSafe, 2018) 61% of drivers say texting is only acceptable if they have a hands-free, voice-activated option; 34% say if it’s an emergency; 24% say never. (Consumer Reports, 2017) Drunk Driving Statistics Drunk driving costs the United States $199 billion every year (MADD, 2017) Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for more than 30% of all driving fatalities each year. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2017) Men are nearly twice as likely as women to have been intoxicated behind the wheel or involved in fatal motor vehicle traffic accidents. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016.) (Source: https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/)

[AJI]

Nice stats to support a transition to AV's there strad...

[strad]

To me it highlights what crap drivers we turn out these days.
Most of the bad wrecks are single car it seems. That's just plain sad.

[Andres125sx]

Exactly, the average driver is crap, and that´s exactly the reason AVs will improve safety and will reduce fatal accidents dramatically.

I´ve already said what I think future will be, AVs all around, at some point probably mandatory (hopefully after some decades and I´ll not see it). But what I´d like it to be is AVs everywhere for anyone except those proving they can really control a car at any situation and have passed an strict and extensive exam wich included car control at the limit under dangerous situations. That´s how I think driving licences should be conceded today, allowing anyone to drive without any basic knownledge of car control IMHO is crazy, but you know, today driving is seen as a right... but people is not instructed about how to do it safely

[Andres125sx]

3000 a day. Can that number really be correct?
It adds up to roughly 1.000.000 a year, which, over a period of 70 years (a life expectancy) builds up to 70M. That’s almost 1% of the world’s population!
Is it really that high?

Yes they´re correct, but you know, this sort of scale arguments don´t prove anything for some people

If a terrorist attack causes 2000 deaths, on a specific date, that´s good to start a WAR. But if 3000 people die a year, every year, we should do nothing at the respect...


Numbers are dangerous, you can get used to them easily and assume they´re normal, even if they´re showing a terrifying statistic

I hear we each swallow 8 spiders a year in our sleep as well.


Some statistics are beyond our control. I mean, every car has seatbelts, but roughly 60% of all road fatalities are unbuckled. No matter how safe/controlled things become, there will always be outlier statistics, and those that pay the ultimate price for their bad decisions.

60% of fatalities without seat belt IMHO speaks volumes about how unsafe is driving unbuckled as you said yourself.

Some statistics are beyond our control, but some others are not. I see people at the wheel writing a message with the mobile, reading some paper, or simply not paying attention to the road daily. This IMO is intolerable, and shows how irresponsible people is. If anyone hates seatbelts and enjoy risking his own life IMHO he´s free to do it, as he´s only risking his own life, but not paying attention to the road is completely different, as this puts other´s lifes at risk too, not only the one from the irresponsible driver

When someone is irresponsible and put others lifes at risk we can´t say some statistics are beyound our control and ignore it, we should do something to stop it, specially if we have the tools to do it

[Just_a_fan]

The US's position on seat belts is odd - at least to someone living in a country that actively enforces seat belt wearing.

In the UK, you can be on-the-spot fined £100 for not wearing a seatbelt (£500 if it goes to court) and Police will stop you for not wearing one. The driver is also responsible for anyone under 14 - they can be fined if a 13 year old isn't wearing a seatbelt, for example.

In the US, it seems somewhat different:

However, in 38 states, you cannot be stopped for not wearing a seat belt; a police officer must find some other reason for stopping you and can then fine you for being ‘unbuckled’ (although you cannot incur licence penalty points).

https://www.justlanded.com/english/Unit ... Seat-Belts

So even though nearly all States require seatbelts in some way or another, most of them aren't able to enforce it. No doubt police officers do find ways to stop people who are not wearing seatbelts, but if you're doing everything else correctly they can't. Is that correct (asking the US forum members for confirmation)?

[Just_a_fan]

But what I´d like it to be is AVs everywhere for anyone except those proving they can really control a car at any situation and have passed an strict and extensive exam wich included car control at the limit under dangerous situations.

No one would have a licence in that case. Even top level racing drivers lose control. WRC drivers are probably some of the best drivers in the world in terms of car control and they still crash.

[Andres125sx]

I guess you missed the italics of "any" in my message. Obviously none can control any situation, but some basic control should be mandatory. I've watched too many videos of accidents which would have never happened with some basic abilities anyone can learn.

Actually we don't even need to control the car in dangerous situations, just learning when the car is reaching its limits to increase safety margins would save many lifes

[Andres125sx]

But what I´d like it to be is AVs everywhere for anyone except those proving they can really control a car at any situation and have passed an strict and extensive exam wich included car control at the limit under dangerous situations.

No one would have a licence in that case. Even top level racing drivers lose control. WRC drivers are probably some of the best drivers in the world in terms of car control and they still crash.

They crash while driving on an open road despite their masterful car control?

Or they crash while racing and trying to take each corner at the limit?

[Just_a_fan]

Some rally drivers are involved in crashes on the road sections between special stages, not just when driving flat out on the special stages themselves.

[henry]

Car control is a small subset of the skills required to drive on the public highway. It could be argued that if one is having to use significant car control expertise somebody has made a mistake.

[Just_a_fan]

Indeed so. Car control is nowhere near as important as observation, forward planning etc.