Bicycle Austin forum / Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Tue, 11 May 2021 02:12:30 +0000

Lying requires that the speaker knows that what he's saying is wrong, otherwise it's just ignorance, not lying. In the case of Huffines, it's quite possible that he believes the B.S. he spouts. Just like Mike Lindell seems to honestly believe that voting machines were programmed to switch votes from Trump to Biden.

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (Jack) — Mon, 10 May 2021 17:15:40 +0000

https://www.statesman.com/opinion/20200 … y-in-ruins

"Statistically, the risk of dying in a car accident is much higher than dying from COVID-19."

In related news:
Former Sen. Don Huffines announces for governor
Says he will challenge Gov. Abbott because "I’m tired of being lied to. We all are. Texas deserves real leadership. No excuses."
Lying liar hates lying, apparently.

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 02:02:40 +0000

Austin traffic now down only 20%.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/ … ools-open/

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 17:40:57 +0000

Austin traffic down 25% this year, while deaths are UP 15%.

https://www.kvue.com/article/traffic/au … 39e3a26ef6

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Sat, 23 May 2020 03:44:04 +0000

I was apologizing to everyone who was mislead by my post.

Anyway, the trend seems to be repeating across the country: the number of crashes is down, but the death rate per crash is way up. e.g.: https://abc7.com/traffic-fatalities-cal … 9/6198603/

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (Jack) — Sat, 02 May 2020 04:33:44 +0000

No apology necessary; i just wanted to be sure we were looking at the same stuff. Also, note that my auto insurer is refunding a portion of my April and May share of my premium b/c of statewide reduced driving/claims. So it must be safer out there, overall, if we’re confining the discussion to harm from car crashes.

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Sat, 02 May 2020 02:21:49 +0000

Yes, Jack, you're absolutely right, I didn't read carefully enough, I apologize. So, I think the conclusion is that of those who *do* crash, injuries are more likely, and that's being attributed to increased speed.

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (Jack) — Fri, 01 May 2020 21:52:38 +0000

MichaelBluejay wrote:

Congestion has gone down but crashes have gone *up*. Suspected cause is speeding because highways are less congested.
https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/fewer- … -city-says
In other news Georgia suspended road tests for new drivers (and seemingly, they don't have to take the road test when the pandemic is over), and some outlets like VICE are cheering on that decision, saying that "road tests are useless".

Doesn't that CBS piece say that crashes have gone *down* by 20% though crashes *with injury* have gone up by 20%
See also https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker … -shut-down

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Fri, 01 May 2020 15:13:10 +0000

My wife pointed out that one factor in the increase in speeding could be decreased enforcement, and a decrease in patrols in general.

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Fri, 01 May 2020 06:29:31 +0000

Congestion has gone down but crashes have gone *up*. Suspected cause is speeding because highways are less congested.

[Correction: Crash volume has gone down, but serious injuries have gone up. i.e., Of those who crash, there are more likely to be serious injuries, probably because of increased speed.]

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/fewer- … -city-says

In other news Georgia suspended road tests for new drivers (and seemingly, they don't have to take the road test when the pandemic is over), and some outlets like VICE are cheering on that decision, saying that "road tests are useless".

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (Jack) — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 20:20:07 +0000

MichaelBluejay wrote:

It was not easy to find.

Regrets, as I was saying. I meant it was easy enough for me to find once asked. I read the thing off a newsprint sheet of paper. I know. I know. The posting didn’t lead me to think of digging the thing out of the recycling bin to provide a quotation or look up a link for you. The former state senator is only one of many trying to minimize the real dangers for whatever goal.

As of today (May 8), the COVID-19 deaths in the US this year are *double* the auto accident deaths of 2019 (now over 76,000)

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (Jack) — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 20:08:52 +0000

The AAS has yet to challenge the writer’s crazy assertion—about 19,000 US deaths from COVID-19 since it was published. Sorry to see the death of responsible journalism

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 09:30:27 +0000

U.S. COVID-19 deaths in about one month have now passed the number of U.S. deaths in the Vietnam War, fought primarily over seven years.

The comic This Modern World recently compared the carnage from auto deaths to that from COVID-19.

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 00:59:27 +0000

The 4/17/20 Chronicle reports that:

* Despite the lockdown, traffic deaths in Austin are *up* vs. last year. (26 so far, vs. 18 at this point last year)
* Austin traffic has been cut in half. In my part of town, it seems like much more than that.

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/20 … headlines/

Re: Coronavirus vs. traffic deaths

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Sun, 19 Apr 2020 03:11:20 +0000

I just wondered if he was talking just about Texas? Even if so, he's still wrong. For just Texas, there are about 275 traffic deaths per month in normal times, and since the first COVID-19 death in TX was about a month ago (March 16), that would be about 275 road deaths during COVID-19 times. That's still fewer than the 469 Texas deaths from COVID-19 during the same period.