this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
112 points (95.9% liked)

World News

39096 readers
2715 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News [email protected]

Politics [email protected]

World Politics [email protected]


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
top 25 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 48 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Information not mentioned in this article:

In Italy speeding fines are a fixed amount based on how far over the limit you're going, which makes them a regressive tax on going fast - wealthy people can sinply afford to speed as much as they like while the poor suffer. That woman they quoted who clearly thought the cameras would meaningfully deter speeding was full of shit; the cameras are there to generate revenue, not reduce speeding.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Just because some rich people can effectively ignore laws does not make fines for breaking those laws a tax. Not being financially able to ignore speed limits isn't "suffering".

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I believe it's more complex than this: governments have some obligation to create infrastructure that's safe for everybody. Simply slapping a speed camera to fine drivers doesn't make the road safer. By comparison, the Dutch have a terrific way of designing roads in such a way that drivers adapt to the conditions, for instance through the road surface and deliberately placing vegetation near the road to help drivers accurately perceive their speed.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Not everything has to be a debate; my comment is simply there to add to the conversation in the thread. Perhaps it can be argued that speed cameras in themselves are a form of traffic calming.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

I love how 'simply respect the speed limit' is often not considered as an option :D

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

They don't have punishments like taking away the license (for a time) after a certain amount of fines?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

For some reason you can also pay your way out of it: they take some points from your licence but you can buy them back from driving schools.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

you don't 'buy them back', you attend a paid driving course and obtain some points

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

They do. Driving licenses are a point based system, points are taken proportionately to the infraction, they are slowly added over time if no infraction happened in the time range, but there is a cap. Once they get to zero your driving license is suspended.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

In the article it says Italy has a high death rate due to people speeding. I was curious how it compares to the of the EU. This data is from 2021 though, and apparently numbers today are slightly higher.

  1. Romania: 85 road deaths per million inhabitants.
  2. Bulgaria: 81 road deaths per million inhabitants.
  3. Latvia: 78 road deaths per million inhabitants.
  4. Croatia: 72 road deaths per million inhabitants.
  5. Poland: 59 road deaths per million inhabitants.
  6. Greece: 57 road deaths per million inhabitants.
  7. Hungary: 56 road deaths per million inhabitants.
  8. Lithuania: 52 road deaths per million inhabitants.
  9. Portugal: 52 road deaths per million inhabitants.
  10. Cyprus: 50 road deaths per million inhabitants.
[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Looks like Italy was 52 per million in 2019, and the United States was 129 per million in 2021 so that’s exciting for my country…

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago (2 children)

'Murcia needs to start taking road safety seriously.

But of course, the "muh rights" crowd won't shut the fuck up, so here we are...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago

You could say America needs to start taking a lot of things more seriously.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

Yes we do, but per-capita numbers are useless without figuring in mileage. I drive from the southern tip of Italy to the Italian alps, twice on a round trip, to pick up my kids.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Yes. And if you had infrastructure, they could have done that trip on a high speed train instead of you having to drive.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

What's the argument here? That because you drive twice as far, it is expected you run over twice as many people?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Keep in mind that traffic in the US is simply more dangerous then in Europe. Traffic in the US consist of a large number of pick up trucks which are heavy and not designed to be friendly to other traffic in an accident. There are more factors, but my key takeaway is accidents versus deadly accidents.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Why are they so far away? There is logic to what you're saying, according to this website Americans drive on average twice as far as Italians/Germans etc. so if you scale by that America is still slightly higher but not as bad.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

As she headed to her son's grave, she told the BBC that the Fleximan enigma reflected a culture that tells people they have the right to feel that rules do not apply to them.

Do the rules apply to the rich? It's how many poorer think it is. Maybe, the authorities should begin with applying them to the rich with for example higher taxes and better welfare aka reducing poverty.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

She's fine with her son dying as long as that driver gets a ticket 2 weeks later in the post.

These cameras obviously don't solve the problem...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Am American living in Italy. I can't explain it, but Italian drivers are the most aggressive drivers I have ever seen (and I've lived in three different continents). It's odd because getting a driver's license here costs upwards of 800 euros (think about this number in a country where the median income is close to 1,500 euro /mo). Also, the roads are extremely treacherous and narrow, further exacerbating the problem. But every time I get on the road I fear it's my last day on earth.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

A "vigilante" isn't just a person acting outside of the law that some people agree with. They're usually about punishing wrongdoers, not protecting them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

They're punishing whoever put those cameras up