this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2023
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While this is mostly about parking issues, the part that stood out most to me in this is:

A study published in the Journal of Safety Research last year found that children were eight times more likely to die when struck by an SUV than those struck by a passenger car.

Eight times! To me, that's insane. Even if it were 50% that would be very bad, but this is 700% more!

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[–] [email protected] 68 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The problem must be the parking spots!

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You jest, but this is exactly what the German panel who’s responsible for our traffic „recommendations“ proposed recently: make the parking spots larger…

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Also let's add a couple more lanes while we're at it and make those wider as well.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How is this possible with a government that includes the Greens?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Same way as closing nuclear power plants in favor of burning fossil fuel

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Leaving nuclear power was decided on by the conservatives and social democrats in 2011 with an end of life plan until 2023. This decision was already prepared in 2002 btw. And they're not closed in favor of fossils, but in favor of renewables. Sure, fossils are still in the mix and we can debate if nuclear power is considered sustainable. But the Greens didn't close nuclear power plants in favor of fossil fuels.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

the Greens didn't close nuclear power plants in favor of fossil fuels.

Well, seeing as they're still using fossil fuel plants, they kinda did. They can say it was to change to renewables all they want, but if they're still burning fossils then what's the point? Shouldn't their main objective be decarbonisation?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And those children dying are just too weak.
They should either toughen up, or at least wear inflatable airbag-suits if they're going to use public spaces.
Though it is also pretty shocking that their careless parents let them walk anywhere.
/s

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You joke, but my son was hit by a truck while crossing the street on the way home from the train.

The truck hit him, he landed, stood up, brushed himself off, and was going to continue home except people stopped him and made him go to the hospital.

After >10 years of karate classes, he knew how to fall without injuring himself.

He also said he'd been hit harder while sparring.

Of course, there was some adrenaline involved, and he did have some minor injuries. Nothing that needed treatment. Then he had literal years of fighting with insurance companies not paying the associated medical bills for the trip to the ER.

Edit: he was also in high school on the verge of being "an adult", so he probably isn't really who they're talking about.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Just one more inches mate

[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I have a modest proposal: If a car is too big for a standard parking spot, it gets marked on the licence plate. It then is not allowed to park on standard parking spots as it's too big for them. Cities and companies are allowed to create bigger parking spots where such cars are allowed to park.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Cities, no, that's public funds.

Companies, yes.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah, if Telsa can fund its own charger network, the BMW can fund its own car parks if it wants to make oversized vehicles.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

And require a commercial driver's licenses that costs more and takes more training and testing.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

I'd rather just ban them, but your proposal is more likely to be accepted.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

charge them double.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And we can't put bike parking in front of stores because they take up too much space? 😒

If your car is too large to fit in a regular parking space, it shouldn't be allowed there.

Put big vehicle parking way at the back of the parking lot and prioritize small vehicles, bikes, micromobility, handicap parking, and public transportation services closer to stores and buildings.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Then vote for it. I haven't met somebody who isn't a tory infatuated. Every person just bloody loved Boris soooooo much "but he's so x and y!"

Start voting for a change

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Boris is actually a bit of a weird outlier in the Tories. I don't like him for lots of other reasons, but he did seem to genuinely believe that climate change was an issue and used to ride a bike about London all the time when he was mayor. Shouldn't have got anywhere near the PMs seat though.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There is a study out there that says controlling for weight, the shape of the vehicle is another significant factor for the likelihood of survivability of being ran over. Cars have a lower bumper and this allows for adults to roll on to the hood, children also have a higher chance of the same (but not much). SUVs, crossovers, and trucks have higher bumpers which gives them bigger blind spots and when hitting an adult, it’s extremely likely, that the victim is seeing the underside of the vehicle.

Taking a step back, vehicles have become heavier at a faster rate and this means that a new car today vs a 2000 car of the same model, going the same speed, the new car will deal much, much more damage due to physics. There’s just more mass.

It’s not even limited to hitting children (because we don’t think of the the children inside or outside of the car), it also affects the roads, parking garage, and bridges that cars use. Heavy vehicles do more damage to the infrastructure than lighter vehicles. EVs are almost always leaving out the fact that they are heavier, and will cause more damage to the road (and children).

In a perfect world, vehicle registration would be based on usage of the road, but that is difficult to come up with a way to enforce that. I think the next best thing would be to have an exponential/progressive registration fee based on weight. If you purchased a heavier vehicle, you are now responsible for contributing even more money to the roads due to your ludicrous destruction of it.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

(because we don’t think of the the children inside or outside of the car)

No, children inside cars are thought of, much like anybody else, it's why we keep having "safer" cars, enforced by regulations, that are actively detrimental to everybody not in a car or an older car due to more weight, more bulkiness, less visibility

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It seems like the solution is easy: don't allow cars to be sold in the country if they don't fit into the parking spots...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Are you alluding to what i think you are alluding to?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think so, but why does a forklift have to be so big if all it does is lift forks?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Haha :) amazing

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Probably not. :)

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

Put a superlinear tax on car size / weight. Big cars must be much more expensive than small ones. https://slate.com/business/2023/01/electric-cars-hummer-ev-tax-fees-weight-joe-biden.html

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Between these two options, which do you think is more likely to happen?

  • regulate motor vehicles: sign laws to limit size
  • accomodate motor vehicles: fill in the oceans to make the UK larger
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

The latter, obviously

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


While the size of the standard parking bay has remained static for decades, cars have been growing longer and wider in a phenomenon known as “autobesity”.

There is growing debate about car size and road safety, after two eight-year-old girls, Selena Lau and Nuria Sajjad, died when a Land Rover crashed through a school fence in south-west London in July.

The research also revealed that 27 models are too wide for drivers to comfortably open their doors when parked between two other cars.

The Land Rover Discovery measures 2.073 metres wide, leaving a narrow 16.35cm space between the doors and the bay’s borders.

Often nicknamed “Chelsea tractors”, their use in city centres has long been criticised, with some road safety campaigners calling for them to be banned in busy pedestrian areas.

Campaigners have questioned why drivers need such large and dangerous cars in the city, particularly when dropping children off at school, with some going to extreme measures to get their message across.


The original article contains 603 words, the summary contains 163 words. Saved 73%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This article totally ignores the actual biggest cars on the road, the american ones, the mentioned BMW i7 is 539cm long, but my neighbour has a Dodge Ram pick up at 583cm, yes he parks in the local co op, yes he fucks up everything cause nobody can get past, he also takes half an hour to get in the space.

Those new hummer evs are even bigger.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I do not get the pickup truck in the city thing. People think that if a car dealer will sell you a car, it’s everyone else’s obligation to make sure you can drive it absolutely everywhere, at any time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It's so weird. None of these people carry stuff in it either. They're just going to the office in their shiny huge car.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It doesn't mention them as it's about the UK and no one drives those models here as you literally wouldn't be able to get down lots of roads let alone park anywhere.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I live in the UK, they absolutely do. I just told the story about my neighbour?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fair enough, I've never seen anyone push it that far over here in my experience.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

You'll spot one soon, still rare, but they're ridiculously oversized and absolutely pointless.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

AUTOBESITY lololol