Last month the New York Times’ Kashmir Hill published a major story on how GM collects driver behavior data then sells access (through LexisNexis) to insurance companies, which will then jack…
Obligatory US, I think the better way of filtering bad drivers is more stringent and frequent testing through the DMV (or your state’s equivalent). Look at Germany, they don’t mess around when it comes to licensing. I’m mid 30s, and haven’t had to retest or do any form of continuing driver’s education or retesting since I was 16.
It’s a little trickier here in the US due to our cities being built for cars, and being without one can be a huge detriment, especially with most public transit being a shitshow. But I agree, we definitely need some mechanisms to weed out bad drivers.
They were never really punished for this and I think this was a lesson learned by all that corps could do what they want without fear of repercussions.
Either way, the bottom line is that it’s pretty difficult to go without a car in the US outside select major cities. Still, per the original comment I responded to, something needs to give in regards to the excess amount of bad drivers on the roads here.
I agree, but you’re talking about completely reengineering/rebuilding cities. Doable in the long run, but clamping down on negligent and distracted drivers in the name of public safety can be done in a much quicker manner.
I think we could find viable ways to engineer something workable without completely tearing everything down, we just have to work smarter. And get rich people to pay taxes.
How do you propose policing all the drivers without license and insurance? We are already way overpoliced, with horrific results. How would you propose bad drivers get to work and do necessary living activities? I think we need to look for inclusive, compassionate solutions, rather than more punitive, exclusionary solutions.
The drivers and in the netherlands are still some of the shittiest drivers outside of Italy.
80%+ of bmw and range rover drivers (of which a huge percentage of cars are) never ever use their turn signals, people literally stand still in the middle of intersections in a 5 car pileup combined with the fact that a huge percentage of people blatantly run red lights so when the light turns green in the opposite direction during a busy period, hundreds of intersections are completely blocked causing immense traffic. This comes from the rule where you generally pass behind the car turning opposite of you. When you have a 5 car pileup in both directions, nobody can pass behind.
Not to mention the rampant “Belgian exit” where cars speed up over the speed limit to go from the right lane, passing a few cars on the left, only to re-enter the right lane past a solid line to screech into the exit a second or two faster. I see this one multiple times every time I drive.
Strict requirements don’t mean much if your driving culture is completely fucked. But culture is also the hardest thing to change.
While licensing is definitely harder in Germany you also do not have to retest or do anything else to keep your license. It’s actually a problem that it’s pretty hard to take away the license from old unfit people (and the German government actually blocked EU legislation improving that).
Obligatory US, I think the better way of filtering bad drivers is more stringent and frequent testing through the DMV (or your state’s equivalent). Look at Germany, they don’t mess around when it comes to licensing. I’m mid 30s, and haven’t had to retest or do any form of continuing driver’s education or retesting since I was 16.
It’s a little trickier here in the US due to our cities being built for cars, and being without one can be a huge detriment, especially with most public transit being a shitshow. But I agree, we definitely need some mechanisms to weed out bad drivers.
Well GM and Goodyear lobbied against public transit when they wanted everyone to buy a car, and probably still do , is why public transit is so awful.
That, plus GM literally bought up streetcar companies and shut them down or converted them to running buses.
Yes. The Great American Streetcar Scandal.
They were never really punished for this and I think this was a lesson learned by all that corps could do what they want without fear of repercussions.
That’s right.
Either way, the bottom line is that it’s pretty difficult to go without a car in the US outside select major cities. Still, per the original comment I responded to, something needs to give in regards to the excess amount of bad drivers on the roads here.
That seems like a bandaid for a tourniquet problem. We need to address causes, otherwise unlicensed, uninsured drivers will increase.
I agree, but you’re talking about completely reengineering/rebuilding cities. Doable in the long run, but clamping down on negligent and distracted drivers in the name of public safety can be done in a much quicker manner.
I think we could find viable ways to engineer something workable without completely tearing everything down, we just have to work smarter. And get rich people to pay taxes.
How do you propose policing all the drivers without license and insurance? We are already way overpoliced, with horrific results. How would you propose bad drivers get to work and do necessary living activities? I think we need to look for inclusive, compassionate solutions, rather than more punitive, exclusionary solutions.
Licensing is also harder here in Belgium.
The drivers and in the netherlands are still some of the shittiest drivers outside of Italy.
80%+ of bmw and range rover drivers (of which a huge percentage of cars are) never ever use their turn signals, people literally stand still in the middle of intersections in a 5 car pileup combined with the fact that a huge percentage of people blatantly run red lights so when the light turns green in the opposite direction during a busy period, hundreds of intersections are completely blocked causing immense traffic. This comes from the rule where you generally pass behind the car turning opposite of you. When you have a 5 car pileup in both directions, nobody can pass behind.
Not to mention the rampant “Belgian exit” where cars speed up over the speed limit to go from the right lane, passing a few cars on the left, only to re-enter the right lane past a solid line to screech into the exit a second or two faster. I see this one multiple times every time I drive.
Strict requirements don’t mean much if your driving culture is completely fucked. But culture is also the hardest thing to change.
While licensing is definitely harder in Germany you also do not have to retest or do anything else to keep your license. It’s actually a problem that it’s pretty hard to take away the license from old unfit people (and the German government actually blocked EU legislation improving that).