Comment on Emma Watson banned from driving for speeding

• noMoYnks@lemmings.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

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  8mph is enough to double the fatality rate if she hits a pedestrian.

  Fuck her.

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  • kogasa@programming.dev ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    So I’m not advocating for speeding, and I think getting a ticket for going 38 in a 30 is reasonable enough, she should be more careful. But “the probability of death given a collision” is an astronomically low contributor to the risk to pedestrians compared to “the probability of a collision.” We all know getting hit by a car is extremely dangerous even at low speeds. The risk of hitting a pedestrian doesn’t go up much between 38mph and 30mph under normal conditions, so the risk to pedestrians doesn’t change much. It’s probably within typical margins considering the difference between drivers who may be older, have slower reaction times, have slept less that day, etc.

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• monochromemalcolm@lemmygrad.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Where I am in the UK, our driving lessons involve keeping an eye on the speedometer, so that we’re not constantly going over. Many modern cars also have digital map functionality built in (or you could get a separate device like a TomTom), which will often inform you of the speed limit between areas.

  8mph difference is only possible to accidentally go over until you are taught to be hypervigilant about your exact speed and start having your eyes on the speedometer as much as the road, and then you start realising rather quickly when you start going over by even 2mph and correct it.

  Lots of cars ignore it at their own peril, choosing instead to be hypervigilant for the speed cameras. My own father (a stresshead in the car) regularly speeds around, hoping not to get tickets. My point is, though, that it’s not difficult to be taught to control speed if people choose to want to.

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• njm1314@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’d be open to this argument for something like 3 mph or 4 mph, maybe even five. But eight? If you’re so bad at keeping track of your speed you can’t tell the difference between zero and eight something is seriously wrong.

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  • echodot@feddit.uk ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    But it’s double zero that’s actually twice as slow

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• Korhaka@sopuli.xyz ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Look at a speedometer. You see where 30 is? Now see where 40 is. Do you notice that the line for 40 is past the line for 30? If the needle is past the line for 30 you are diving too fast. There is no way you can do it unless you are not paying attention to your speed.

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  • JamesTBagg@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I was once pulled over for doing 50 in a 30 and I was just coasting down a long hill. I’ve also been pulled over for doing 35 in a 25mph zone (a classic Texas small town speed trap where the posted speed went from 65 to 55 to 25 in a very short distance with a cop posted at the 25 sign. You had to be on the brakes to make it.) Some cars are quite quick, foot on the gas pedal a moment too long and you’ve blown through 8mph. Some people spend more time with their eyes outside the car than on the dash. Hell a lot of you drive around with highbeams on and there’s an indicator light for that too.

    But also, “Watson already had nine points on her licence before the speeding incident occurred, the court heard.”

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    • echodot@feddit.uk ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I was once pulled over for doing 50 in a 30 and I was just coasting down a long hill.

      I’m sorry your defence is that the gravity was doing the work not the engine and therefore the speed doesn’t count? You realise that’s not how it works

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      • JamesTBagg@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Did I say it doesn’t count? The cop didn’t issue me a ticket so he didn’t think so.

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    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yes, a lot of people are bad at driving

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    • ohulancutash@feddit.uk ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You paint a picture of a fucking atrocious driver who should not be on the road.

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      • JamesTBagg@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        I’m glad my two anecdotes of 25-ish years of driving have given you a complete picture.

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      • echodot@feddit.uk ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        That’s because Americans learn to drive at like 16 and then as long as they don’t literally run over the instructor they pass.

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