• Mr Fish@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    makes no difference

    Not true, there’s a lot of differences between a car and a ute/suv. The high, square bonnet of a ute both makes it harder to see pedestrians and makes it much worse when they do hit. Cars are designed to hit people on the lower legs and toss them onto the bonnet, while utes hit people on the upper body and knock them over so they end up underneath a moving vehicle.

    Cars aren’t great, but they’re so much better than utes and suvs.

    • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Of course, a larger vehicle is more dangerous, but all moving cars and trucks are still a risk to pedestrians.

      People were being hit and killed by regular cars way before these monstrous SUVs and pick-up trucks became more popular.

      Pedestrians shouldn’t be hit by either.

      • thatsTheCatch@lemmy.nz
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        1 year ago

        You are correct, and I agree with you, but it’s still incorrect to say there is no difference when research shows there is. I understand what you’re trying to go for, but stating false information won’t help to convince people.

        Even if the number of cars on the road remains the same, but utes and SUVs were swapped to lower vehicles (when possible), then there would still be positive outcomes of fewer pedestrian fatalities (even if the number of accidents remains the same) and reduced carbon emissions.

        Removing most cars would reduce these even more, which I assume is your desired outcome, but even just reducing the proportion of utes and SUVs would have positive effects

        • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          but it’s still incorrect to say there is no difference when research shows there is.

          Just to clarify, I said “no difference” in that “big, small, tall, short, electric, or gas powered” vehicles ALL cause severe injuries and death to pedestrians.

          I’m not trying to argue that there’s no measurable difference in the amount of damage a larger vehicle can cause vs a smaller one, as I completely agree that there is.

          My point is that they are all too dangerous to be around people, so a fatality by a car is “no different” than a fatality by an SUV.

          • thatsTheCatch@lemmy.nz
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            1 year ago

            I agree that a fatality by a car is no different to a fatality by an SUV. But I would say that there is a difference in accidents involving cars vs SUVs because the fatality rates differ, which is what is being discussed.

            I might be misinterpreting your argument, but my understanding is that you’re saying because both cars and SUVs can cause fatalities, they are all too dangerous to be around people. But many things can cause fatalities, even bikes. We’ll never be able to reduce accidents entirely. But there’s a rate at which the fatalities become too high compared to the benefits. So that’s why I believe talking about the rates of fatalities is more useful than talking about whether something can cause a fatality at all. In this case, I think your acceptable rate for fatalities is at a level where all motorised vehicles clear the threshold, so that’s why you’re saying there’s no difference. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

            Replacing tall-fronted vehicles with short-fronted vehicles would reduce fatalities, which is why I believe there is a difference and we should try to do that where possible.