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Why is there such intense resistance to lowering speed limits in town centers? (hexbear.net)
submitted 4 days ago* by to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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The evidence suggests that lowering speed limits to 30 km/h (13.2674 candela per British thermal unit foot-pound for the seppos) massively increases survivability and decreases permanent injury rates in collisions with pedestrians: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002243752400152X

Realistically for most commutes this equates to a couple of minutes extra driving. Most delays are at lights/intersections not low speed limits.

Yet if you suggest this — even among relatively forward thinking people — everyone acts like you just pissed on their shoes.

Why the hell does this happen? Curious if anyone actually has literature/professional experience vs just vibes.

other discussions cause one paper is just an example: https://acrs.org.au/evidence-supports-30km-h-speed-limits-in-school-zones/

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[–] 13 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Because we are not compensated for our work commutes; a couple extra minutes driving is effectively a couple extra minutes of unpaid overtime.

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  • [–] 10 points 4 days ago* (1 child)

    well youll also be glad to know that slower speeds reduce rubberbanding and paradoxically decrease the time of travel through a dense area especially when combined with green waves. i personally dont really support just lowering speeds, i also support the narrowing of roads to force people to actually be slower rather than vibes-based speed signs. then the rest of the road should be dedicated to more efficient means of transport like bicycles and pedestrian paths so that locals aren't contributing to a long distance traffic problem.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago

    That's all good, but unless people start getting compensated for their commutes they're still going to try to speed. Don't pretend like people speed because it's fun or something, the only reason they do it is because they think it will get them where they are going faster. People want to get where they are going as fast as they can because driving is stressful+boring+dangerous unpaid overtime.

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  • [–] [S] 7 points 4 days ago (3 children)

    Derranged take. Do you not tie your shoelaces because nobody is paying you? Shower and apply perfume/deodorant?

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  • [–] 17 points 4 days ago* (1 child)

    Those are things I do for myself, which I would do anyway even if I was unemployed.

    Commuting is something I do for the boss, and in the US people are dedicating an hour or more every day for this shit. It's a huge unpaid time sink that we dedicate to our jobs, effectively making it unpaid overtime. It's why people love working from home, they are actually paid for every hour they work instead of being forced to dedicate time to drudgery "before" and "after" work.

    Driving is literally millions of peoples' actual jobs, that they do full time. It's stressful, dangerous, and boring - sounds like work.

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  • [–] [S] 12 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    I don't know why you're talking to me like I'm some alien who's never driven.

    Life is full or stressful and boring things we do to make the world safer and nicer for other people. From picking up dog shit to not littering, queuing, not shitting in public even when there's a risk of not making it to a toilet, learning how to present nicely socially, being kind to extremely annoying people, swallowing your own negative emotions and not lashing out at unrelated people, and so many more things.

    We live in a society. Taking care while operating heavy machinery at the cost of a very slight delay (which btw reduces the stress and danger to yourself vs the normal mode) for everyone's safety is smol beans lmao.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 child)

    I'm telling you the material reason for why people behave this way, I'm not saying it's morally justified or something. By not paying people for their commute we are incentivizing them to speed, break traffic laws, and endanger themselves and others. If you want to explain some odd human behaviors you should look to the material base first before you look to the superstructure (car culture, selfish personality, individualist ideology, etc etc).

    If people were paid for their work commutes, I bet you'd see a lot of this behavior disappear. Not all of it, but a lot of it.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 days ago

    I don't believe that at all, some of the worst drivers on the road here are people who are being paid for their commutes: independent tradies. They bill you transport costs yet if someone screams through a zebra crossing or is tailgating you and flashing their highbeams long odds that it's not a bloke in highvis.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 days ago

    I've worked jobs where the commute was paid when I was working somewhere besides my primary work location. There's nothing says it can't, or shouldn't be. It would be paid if I drove, it would be paid if I took mass transit. And it should be.

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