18 Replies to “Riding Mass Transit Is Like Inviting 20 Random Hitchhikers Into Your Car”
Meanwhile, 92 people will die in car accidents in the US today. AAA found that aggressive driving was a factor in roughly 56% of these crashes, so… if you are really worried about crazies… don’t go pointing fingers at public transit without considering the risks of driving.
Link broken?
In the AAA’s definition of “aggressive driving”, they include this, which is wide enough to include anything other than “mechanical failure” … when they define what they oppose as “anything” … they’ve admitted really that whatever they don’t like offends them. That’s why people don’t take them seriously. Also note, the incident on the Chinese bus doesn’t have too much to do with Americans driving private vehicles in the USA.
“We contend that any unsafe driving behavior, performed deliberately and with ill intention or disregard for safety, can constitute aggressive driving”
On page 3 here: https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/AggressiveDrivingResearchUpdate2009.pdf
We don’t like it, so you’re wrong. Also, perhaps a warning label on axes that states for the Johns among us, “may be harmful to wood” …
Actually link is here: http://blazingcatfur.blogspot.ca/2014/07/arsonist-ignites-flammable-liquid.html
Brilliant, John! Finally something on which we can agree!
May all motorists be sent to Hell, which for them will look like New York City during gridlock.
What exactly the denizens of this b[l]og know about public transit I couldn’t guess. Maybe the occasional Greyhound
bus runs through Delisle. Their idea of a big city is probably Saskatoon.
Marc:
I find it interesting that speeding is listed as the type of aggressive driving which causes the most accidents. I have to admit that my definition of “speeding” and “aggressive” may be slightly different than the authors of the article. Since I always deliberately drive at the fastest speed that I can legally get away with (i.e. go through a radar trap), anyone who passes me is obviously going ‘WAY too fast! Having had numerous opportunities to discuss speeding tickets with police officers over the years, I have concluded that 10 km/h over the posted limit will prevent a speeding ticket 98-99% of the time here in Alberta. But even then, speeding only becomes “aggressive” when the driver is RACING another driver, or even just the clock.
‘Course, my attitude is probably influenced by having owned a Corvette with a Lingenfelter 396 stroker engine, that seriously felt as stable at 200 km/h as most family sedans feel at 100 km/h. I’m not aggressive – I’m “Enthusiastically Efficient”.
LOL!
Exactly, I’ve ridden in (and owned a few) that I didn’t feel safe in driving at typical city speeds, never mind highway speeds.
“Aggression” as a term used to mean something, like fighting in school did, now “aggression” applies to anything out of line, and in school can be applied to those that look at a woman’s chest for more than a fleeting glance.
John Lewis @ 4.48 pm,
Folks from small town Sask. don’t need to ride big city public transportation to know it’s not all that it’s made out to be.
I ride it here in Cowtown often enough, normally when working in the downtown core area where parking fees are among the highest in the continent. +$22. / day in the choice areas of Calgary is normal.
I’m blue collar, I’m not threatened by folks lighting fires on the bus/train, or playing with my 1 cm hair from the seat behind me as happened near the Calgary SAIT a few months ago.
When that Toronto City Police officer shot that kid on the GoTrain awhile ago, that made me think though… I’ve never seen that before, not even in bastions of social control like Caracas..
Or China..
They need to BAN arsonists!
Also every Liberal voter needs to register their flammable liquids, and be subject to random home searches to look for any.
Well John, we know that a gun can be a pretty handy thing to have on a bus these days.
And we know that any day where you need a gun is a day that sucks.
Using public transit is like using public toilets. It’s for emergencies only, you have to hold your nose the whole time, and don’t sit on the seats.
I’ll take my chances in traffic wrapped in four tons of steel thanks.
Public transit is used 3-4 times per year. Only to go see the Oilers play. Otherwise never go near the dangerous things.
The real issue is the increasing numbers of mentally ill people (i.e, I am equating many manifestations of antisocial behavior …. and not just violent behavior….with mental illness).
Theories about the underlying causes of behavior like this bus incident abound. I personally think that crowding people is an underlying cause….. and I don’t mean just on the bus on your way to work. Tolerance for crowding varies widely in the human population.
Riding public transit is a little unseemly except maybe in the morning rush hour when the dregs are still in bed or under the bridge. I never found the AM bad, except for the expected overcrowding. Late night was a real ‘experience’. Don’t try to defend it. i believe it is the domain of those who must ride it.
I had a great argument with my Class 1 instructor.
He said “Speed Kills” in his explanation of overdriving the speed limit.
He had just explained that he had taken a trip to see his inlaws, by air. I asked him why he didn’t die. He just looked at me…staring blankly.
I then asked him that if that jet flies at over 600 mph why he didn’t die, because speed kills? He was going at a much higher rate of speed than a highway posted speed limit.
I then explained that it wasn’t the speed that kills, it is the sudden stops that kill. If you are in control, have good working machines, and the conditions allow, have at ‘er!!!
I say, get rid of the speed limits and let the crazies take themselves out. The fearful can take transit, like they deserve. The rest of us can enjoy the pleasures of driving, the way it was meant to be.
how about public transit in Toronto, London UK, Hamburg Deutchland, Sydney Australia, and various places in Japan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia and the USA? Is that enough real world knowledge for you answer about the readers of this blog.
JL… you and your crazy examples! Don’t you know nuthin’? Despite the fact that people use transit in the USA 35,000,000 times each day, almost entirely without incident, it’s these outliers that people should focus on. NEVER discount the importance of fear-based reasoning in the conservative mind. It’s everything to these guys. Except, maybe, when it might mean they have to change their behaviors. Then they totally ignore all of the reasons for concern. You know, because CHANGE is scary.
“how about public transit in Toronto”
How about it? Pray tell me something I do not know, have only been living in and around GTA for a better part of my life. Phantom’s analogy to public toilets is perfect. Well actually the analogy applies well not just to TTC but to Moronto core.
Meanwhile, 92 people will die in car accidents in the US today. AAA found that aggressive driving was a factor in roughly 56% of these crashes, so… if you are really worried about crazies… don’t go pointing fingers at public transit without considering the risks of driving.
Link broken?
In the AAA’s definition of “aggressive driving”, they include this, which is wide enough to include anything other than “mechanical failure” … when they define what they oppose as “anything” … they’ve admitted really that whatever they don’t like offends them. That’s why people don’t take them seriously. Also note, the incident on the Chinese bus doesn’t have too much to do with Americans driving private vehicles in the USA.
“We contend that any unsafe driving behavior, performed deliberately and with ill intention or disregard for safety, can constitute aggressive driving”
On page 3 here:
https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/AggressiveDrivingResearchUpdate2009.pdf
We don’t like it, so you’re wrong. Also, perhaps a warning label on axes that states for the Johns among us, “may be harmful to wood” …
Actually link is here:
http://blazingcatfur.blogspot.ca/2014/07/arsonist-ignites-flammable-liquid.html
stupid liberal.
Meanwhile, 17 people will die in toilet accidents in the US this month…. don’t go pointing fingers at driving without considering the risk of Johns.
http://deadspin.com/brazilian-soccer-fan-killed-by-toilet-thrown-out-of-sta-1571464461
WOW John.
You really stepped into it.
Brilliant, John! Finally something on which we can agree!
May all motorists be sent to Hell, which for them will look like New York City during gridlock.
What exactly the denizens of this b[l]og know about public transit I couldn’t guess. Maybe the occasional Greyhound
bus runs through Delisle. Their idea of a big city is probably Saskatoon.
Marc:
I find it interesting that speeding is listed as the type of aggressive driving which causes the most accidents. I have to admit that my definition of “speeding” and “aggressive” may be slightly different than the authors of the article. Since I always deliberately drive at the fastest speed that I can legally get away with (i.e. go through a radar trap), anyone who passes me is obviously going ‘WAY too fast! Having had numerous opportunities to discuss speeding tickets with police officers over the years, I have concluded that 10 km/h over the posted limit will prevent a speeding ticket 98-99% of the time here in Alberta. But even then, speeding only becomes “aggressive” when the driver is RACING another driver, or even just the clock.
‘Course, my attitude is probably influenced by having owned a Corvette with a Lingenfelter 396 stroker engine, that seriously felt as stable at 200 km/h as most family sedans feel at 100 km/h. I’m not aggressive – I’m “Enthusiastically Efficient”.
LOL!
Exactly, I’ve ridden in (and owned a few) that I didn’t feel safe in driving at typical city speeds, never mind highway speeds.
“Aggression” as a term used to mean something, like fighting in school did, now “aggression” applies to anything out of line, and in school can be applied to those that look at a woman’s chest for more than a fleeting glance.
John Lewis @ 4.48 pm,
Folks from small town Sask. don’t need to ride big city public transportation to know it’s not all that it’s made out to be.
I ride it here in Cowtown often enough, normally when working in the downtown core area where parking fees are among the highest in the continent. +$22. / day in the choice areas of Calgary is normal.
I’m blue collar, I’m not threatened by folks lighting fires on the bus/train, or playing with my 1 cm hair from the seat behind me as happened near the Calgary SAIT a few months ago.
When that Toronto City Police officer shot that kid on the GoTrain awhile ago, that made me think though… I’ve never seen that before, not even in bastions of social control like Caracas..
Or China..
They need to BAN arsonists!
Also every Liberal voter needs to register their flammable liquids, and be subject to random home searches to look for any.
Well John, we know that a gun can be a pretty handy thing to have on a bus these days.
And we know that any day where you need a gun is a day that sucks.
Using public transit is like using public toilets. It’s for emergencies only, you have to hold your nose the whole time, and don’t sit on the seats.
I’ll take my chances in traffic wrapped in four tons of steel thanks.
Public transit is used 3-4 times per year. Only to go see the Oilers play. Otherwise never go near the dangerous things.
The real issue is the increasing numbers of mentally ill people (i.e, I am equating many manifestations of antisocial behavior …. and not just violent behavior….with mental illness).
Theories about the underlying causes of behavior like this bus incident abound. I personally think that crowding people is an underlying cause….. and I don’t mean just on the bus on your way to work. Tolerance for crowding varies widely in the human population.
Riding public transit is a little unseemly except maybe in the morning rush hour when the dregs are still in bed or under the bridge. I never found the AM bad, except for the expected overcrowding. Late night was a real ‘experience’. Don’t try to defend it. i believe it is the domain of those who must ride it.
I had a great argument with my Class 1 instructor.
He said “Speed Kills” in his explanation of overdriving the speed limit.
He had just explained that he had taken a trip to see his inlaws, by air. I asked him why he didn’t die. He just looked at me…staring blankly.
I then asked him that if that jet flies at over 600 mph why he didn’t die, because speed kills? He was going at a much higher rate of speed than a highway posted speed limit.
I then explained that it wasn’t the speed that kills, it is the sudden stops that kill. If you are in control, have good working machines, and the conditions allow, have at ‘er!!!
I say, get rid of the speed limits and let the crazies take themselves out. The fearful can take transit, like they deserve. The rest of us can enjoy the pleasures of driving, the way it was meant to be.
how about public transit in Toronto, London UK, Hamburg Deutchland, Sydney Australia, and various places in Japan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia and the USA? Is that enough real world knowledge for you answer about the readers of this blog.
JL… you and your crazy examples! Don’t you know nuthin’? Despite the fact that people use transit in the USA 35,000,000 times each day, almost entirely without incident, it’s these outliers that people should focus on. NEVER discount the importance of fear-based reasoning in the conservative mind. It’s everything to these guys. Except, maybe, when it might mean they have to change their behaviors. Then they totally ignore all of the reasons for concern. You know, because CHANGE is scary.
“how about public transit in Toronto”
How about it? Pray tell me something I do not know, have only been living in and around GTA for a better part of my life. Phantom’s analogy to public toilets is perfect. Well actually the analogy applies well not just to TTC but to Moronto core.