[?????]

unfortunately, you can only drive as safe as the coffee charged, phone distracted, canyonaro driving wannabe celebrity soccer mom in the lane next to you...

You can also pay attention to what the drivers around you are doing. I'm sure you've noticed how some people seem to be involved in a lot of wrecks, even if they are never at fault.

You should never be in this situation, anyways. Driving side by side with someone in the lane next to you is unacceptable, inconsiderate, and unsafe.

Also, part of my point is that any of the cars out there now are safe enough. And in fact, many of the unnecessary safety features that weigh down the cars of today just contribute to poorer handling, poorer gas mileage, and poorer visibility.

A dozen airbags, is that really necessary? The idea is to not wreck in the first place. Driving down a public road isn't exactly the place to push your limits like on a bike trail. There's no real reason to get into a situation that you would lose control.

Select the car that best fits you, cruise the road, relax, and enjoy it.

 

[Whoops]

TED /=/ right.

That is all.

 

[buildyourown]

You should never be in this situation, anyways. Driving side by side with someone in the lane next to you is unacceptable, inconsiderate, and unsafe.

You don't live in a major city with 6-8 freeways, do you?

I agree with you in principle about defensive driving. My record over my entire life says I am statistically very safe. (touch wood)

I have however been in a major accident in an older car with a vehicle that outweighed me by 10x. I'm going to pay for that one for the rest of my life. When it comes to driving in the city everyday with my 2yo in the car and crazies on the road, I'll take every god damn airbag they'll sell me.

 

[Toshi]

This is a bit of an aside, but Toshi, did you catch the TEDx Copenhagen talk about why we shouldn't wear bicycle helmets? Thought it was a great thought-provoking talk.

I just watched the talk. I agree with his overarching point that pro-bicycling legislation and changes shouldn't be held up out of fear of encouraging a "dangerous" activity. I disagree with his out-of-context car safety numbers among other things, and his general "slippery slope" argument as exemplified by the helmets for use in the house.

My argument against house-helmets for infants isn't that they're ridiculous in and of themselves or that there has been an insufficient advertising push on their behalf, but rather that no one has demonstrated to me that toddling around the house is sufficiently risky a behavior to warrant their use. I do think it's prudent to strengthen banisters, use a crib that doesn't become a guillotine, lock up medications and firearms alike, and keep the water heater at a non-scalding level, but I haven't seen anything to suggest towards helmet use.

With regard to the car safety numbers: if you scale the number of deaths properly for the miles traveled using that modality then the relative risks of each are much clearer (source):

Motor vehicle: 1.3 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles
Aircraft: 1.9 deaths per 100 million aircraft miles
Motorcycle: 31.3 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles
Train: 130 deaths per 100 million train miles

Where bicycles fit in is a bit unclear as the data aren't as good, specifically the denominator of bicycle miles traveled per year. This paper suggests that bicycling is about 10x more dangerous per mile than driving, and that walking is about 3x more dangerous than cycling. Intuitively this makes sense: if clocked by a car while cycling along the road here in Long Island I will be seriously injured or die, whereas the same impact would merely result in a few hundred dollars worth of sheet metal damage were I in a car.

Does this mean that I recommend everyone drive a huge car everywhere? No: witness my continued motorcycle commuting habits. After deciding that I'd keep on doing what I like to do despite the acknowledged risks, I went about minimizing my risk as best as I could through training, equipment, and riding habits. I have stopped bicycling to work regularly, though, mostly because I feel unsafe with the driver habits and road configuration that exists between my house and my workplace.

 

[fro biker]

Everything is dangerous. Be alert, drive smart and learn how to drive - period. It is the drivers of any and every vehicle that I am more concerned about, versus the car they or I drive. However, this is quite an interesting thread and the information is still something to consider during the purchase of a new vehicle. There are statistics for everything, keep that in mind. But, I commend the author of the thread for his research and compilation of the found information as well as the thought provoking nature of the discussion.