Quote:
Originally Posted by AdultKing
Typically the general idea is that a car can hurt you so it's good practice to not walk onto a road without looking for something that might hurt you first. 
Here cars need to give way to pedestrians when turning left or right at a set of traffic lights, zebra crossings, school crossings, etc. But you spend a day in Melbourne and you'll see complete idiots crossing 20 metres away from an intersection, diagonally, while reading their mobile phone and not looking. |
oh i agree. we are all ultimately responsible for our own lives. i can tell you i keep my head on a swivel when i cross the street and certainly when walking through parking lots.
but i do that because of shitty drivers who have little concern for pedestrians. the problem is not poor walking, the problem is poor driving.
in reading the actual study results mentioned in the article, i can highlight that the problem is inattentive (poor) drivers:
Quote:
This study found that pedestrian and bicyclist crashes involving both HEVs and ICE vehicles commonly occurred on roadways, in zones with low speed limits, during daytime and in clear weather, with higher incidence rates for HEVs when compared to ICE vehicles.
A variety of crash factors were examined to determine the relative incidence rates of HEVs versus ICE vehicles in a range of crash scenarios. For one group of scenarios, those in which a vehicle is slowing or stopping, backing up, or entering or leaving a parking space, a statistically significant effect was found due to engine type. The HEV was two times more likely to be involved in a pedestrian crash in these situations than was an ICE vehicle.
Vehicle maneuvers such as slowing or stopping, backing up, or entering or leaving a parking space, were grouped in one category based on that these maneuvers are potentially have occurred at very low speeds where the difference between the sound levels produced by the hybrid versus ICE vehicle is the greatest. In future analysis with a larger sample size, it would be ideal to investigate each of these maneuvers individually.
Incidence rate of pedestrian crashes in scenarios when vehicles make a turn was significantly higher for HEVs when compared to ICE vehicles.
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http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811204.pdf
EV drivers do not check to make sure things are safe and clear when backing up or parking. the test could in fact be showing that EV drivers are worse drivers than ICE.
i strongly believe the problem is with the driver, not the pedestrian, even though pedestrians are certainly responsible for themselves.