Advocacy

Definitely worth a look. Thirty pages long, but it's a ppt presentation. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0676/6772/2398/files/2026_Survey_Report_Blind_Spots_The_White_Line.pdf?v=1776360378

Hi John,

Thanks for sharing. I read through the 30 slides and found it interesting. Based on my personal experience road cycling, I find their overall conclusion puzzling. In the close calls I’ve encountered, empathy is out the window along with the shouting and middle fingers. Of course I’m only judging it based on a sample of people who obviously don’t care about my safety.

I’m not sure what to make of the study other than it doesn’t really advocate any change other than more humanity which right now is not going to change.

Best regards,

Eric Johnston

I agree, Eric, although I think the "empathy" arises from hearing about someone they know or that is close to them having an egregious incident with a motorist. And of course, it IS a survey... in my experience, people respond differently to surveys than the actually respond out in the real world.

The group's currently advocacy is for AEBs, which would take some of the decision-making out of the hands of the drive because the car would brake whenever it detected a VRU. So whether it was an intentional "buzz" or just a lack of attention, the result would be the same. It's not foolproof (and we both know that a lot of fools are drivers), but it's better than what we have today.

Thanks for sharing John. I also read through all the slides. I think the results of the survey are interesting but not surprising. The primary lesson seems to be the disconnect between one's own behavior and that of others, we all think we are good drivers. The statistic that had the most impact for me was over 1/3 of drivers reported being irritated at having to slow down for a vulnerable road user (VRU) and I suspect that number is under reported just like the self-delusional numbers regarding behavior. It's the annoyance that leads to risky driving behavior. I'm at a loss at how to address the angry driver problem but I think it's the one that is the killer.

While I think the empathy approach casting VRU's as your family, friends, neighbors has some merit I don't see it as a particularly effective approach because it requires remembering whatever triggered the empathy response when one gets behind the wheel. I think empathy responses are very transitory without a sustained effect.

Had to laugh a bit about the young parent recklessness. We all know the most reckless life stage is our youth, whether we're parents or not.

John

Thank you for sharing, John. I found most interesting the section describing more than 50% of the population who believe there are significant criminal penalties for killing someone while operating your car. They seem to miss the takeaway I had from that - that there is sufficient political will to increase the penalties to something commensurate with what folks already expect the penalties to be.

I can understand how pursuing that might distract from the group's advocacy for AEB's, though, which I'm all for. Any improvements are welcome.