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Overstimulated
(lemmy.nz)
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this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2026
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Also, there are gradations between ‘fine and dandy’ and ‘dead’, how about you factor that into the benefits of seat belts.
The worst year for car fatalities was 1938. You had a like 1 in 3000 chance. That's exceedingly rare in my book. Again, I'm not against seat belt laws. I'm just saying they work just as well if you don't live in constant fear of death.
1 in 3000 per km travelled? Per year? Every time you get in the car? Per day? Per crash? What are these numbers.
First, again, I am not arguing against seat belt laws. Repeat: I. am. not. against seat belt laws. I’m assuming this is the misunderstanding and why I keep getting downvoted into oblivion and getting weird replies. If not, then why? I’m not understanding this push back.
What I’m saying is that it’s not psychologically healthy to think your daily commute is a war zone and obsess on worst case scenarios like the comments my original comment was in response to.
Now with the numbers.
In the US, during the 30s, about 1 out of 3,000 people died in car accidents each year. By the 70s, with road safety improvements and such, this was down to 1 out of 5,000. Then in the 90s with seat belt laws, it was about 1 out 6,500. Today, with a half dozen air bags in each car, it’s 1 out of 10,000.
I didn't downvote, but I already mentioned my objection that ‘dead or alive’ aren't the only two possible outcomes of a car trip. So the calculation should be different.
The person who put her legs up on the dashboard and ended up with said legs way in her pelvis, has lived iirc.
Also, this is a prime example of a ‘black swan’ event: happens rarely, but when it does, you really fucking wish it didn't.
You’ll drive yourself insane thinking like this. And that’s my concern about modern society. When seat belt laws were passed half a century ago, we never thought about our legs being shoved up into our pelvis. We understood that it was a “carpet bombing” law. If you force a quarter billion people to wear seat belts, it’ll prevent thousands of deaths and injuries. But me personally, whether I wear a seat belt or not, I am just as safe. People have lost sight of that today.
Your attitude is completely backwards. I won't drive myself anything at all, because I learn this once and then I don't think about any of that, but I follow the best practices every time — as in, I sit upright and strap in. I don't ever drive without the seat belt and don't put my feet up on the dashboard, and that's it, I've reduced my chances of being mangled while on the road a hundredfold.
It's the most Zen approach possible. Just do the best thing every time, and you'll get the best possible chances.
Repeat the mantra:
Also btw, your general attitude regarding any kind of black-swan event should be 'huh, perhaps I should avoid that at a small cost, in case it fucks my entire family for three generations', and not 'who the fuck cares'. That's wisdom.
Again. I was not saying don't wear seat belts. I was saying prepare for black swan events but remember that they are black swan events and not the norm.
I'm feeling like Not Sure trying to explain that I'm pretty sure plants need water.
So I work in the trades. Most of my coworkers don’t use PPE because they are too tough or whatever. They say the exact same kind of stuff you say.
I'm not sure where you work, but it sounds like it's dangerous if you need PPE. I'm being rational. Driving isn't as dangerous as something like a construction site.
I'm not being tough. I'm genuinely concerned that the PSA terror campaigns of the past half century have warped the younger generations. You're suffering from Super Duper Mean World Syndrome.
Are you sure? Construction workers are statistically far more likely to die while driving to/from work than on the job site. Ever since OSHA/modern workplace safety standards in the 70’s, auto wrecks are the leading cause of amputations in our society.
Since the end of WWII, more American soldiers have died in on-base car crashes than in combat with enemy forces. The whole reason we have paramedics is because they realized people were dying at a higher rate on California state highways than on the frontlines of the Vietnam War.
I really don’t think you appreciate how dangerous car driving is. I also dgaf and love driving and working on my carS, but you gotta be realistic. For most people, driving is the riskiest thing they do. Unless they ride motorcycles or fly small aircraft.
Also I know more people who have died in car crashes than any other single cause. That’s anecdotal; but it lines up with the statistics. What I’m not sure of is why you think car driving is so safe. I also don’t appreciate, on a personal level, the implication that I’m an anxious/mentally ill wreck when you’re the one who appears to have an unrealistic view of the situation. Peace!
Huh. It's a good thing I don't drive a car. You should probably stop driving one too because holy fucking shit. Howdo you drive to work everyday knowing it's more deadly than the battlefields of Vietnam?
Do I need to buy you a shovel to dig yourself out of this pile of cow shit? Or do you have that handled yourself?
You guys are just trolling me. I'm gonna stop feedin' ya.
I just have an issue with misuse of statistics. "1 in 3000 people died in car accidents each year" is a useless number that gives you no information you can base a decision on, though granted, it's at least more info than before. But still, what do we get from it? Assuming it's correct, is it saying that for every 3000 deaths 1 was in a car crash? If so, seeing as that figure was around 2.2% in 2017, with much better traffic laws, infinitely safer cars, better road design, construction, and materials... You can draw exactly zero conclusions from that stat. Were a lot more people dying in the 30s from other preventable causes? Are people now a dying much less? No idea. There's so much noise, how do you even factor in seat belts?
If you want to draw conclusions from statistics you need to use the right ones. If we're comparing traffic safety then at least start here: how do injuries+deaths/km travelled compare from the 30s to now?
I think it's rather that 1/3000th of the total population died in car crashes each year, and your job as a voter was to judge if that's acceptable.
Christ... That's grim.
‘Unsafe at Any Speed’
What decision do you think I'm suggesting should be made?
I have no idea, nor am I invested in that. I'm only here for statistical rigor.