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Originally Posted by Trae
Lol you did. It was no different than the one you made. 
Density does not mean a place isn't auto-dependent either. This is why I said LA is a weird mix. There is more to it than what you're saying. You have to look at demographics, average gridlock, infrastructure, local culture, tourists and seasonal populations, etc. The video touched on this briefly but didn't dive deep enough. For example, maybe since California has more gridlock, that's less time for cars to speed during the day, thus lowering chances of automobile accidents.
SoCal and Miami have a lot of similarities in how they are laid out but so different in accident rate?
We've honed in on California but what about some of the other states at a similar level like Utah, Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska, and even Colorado and Nevada? Are you telling me these states have the same large urban centers with similar densities as California? I don't think what's going on in SLC or DEN is enough to offset the rest of the state. |
There's more to auto-dominance than "layout". Things like the speed limit and enforcement, avergae traffic speed (obviously congestion plays a role in that) other traffic laws and enforcement such as yielding to pedestrians, lane widths, the prevalence of "slip lanes" at intersections, the prevalence of other road users (which improves driver awareness) etc. But we don't need that fine of detail when the trend line is this clear. While there are minor variations with some data points fitting the correlation better than others, there are no major outliers. But yes I get it. Sometimes people can be very invested in proving or disproving a particular conclusion because of what the implications mean for them. And for some people no amount of data will change their mind.
But for those who are open to the data the video I posted isn't the only source. It's simply the easiest, most accessible source for this type of setting as a casual, non-academic web forum. But you can also see stuff like
this article which shows that the vast majority of traffic fatalities in the city of Toronto, which contains both urban and suburban parts, are in the suburban parts. Or
this academic study which shows a clear connection between sprawl and traffic injuries. It states that, "Controlling for covariates, we find that sprawl is associated with significantly higher direct and indirect effects on fatal crash rates. The direct effect is likely due to the higher traffic speeds in sprawling areas, and the indirect effect is due to greater vehicle miles driven in such areas. Or
this study from about a decade earlier which found that, "For every 1% increase in the index (i.e., more compact, less sprawl), all-mode traffic fatality rates fell by 1.49% (P < .001) and pedestrian fatality rates fell by 1.47% to 3.56%, after adjustment for pedestrian exposure (P < .001)." and concludes that, "Urban sprawl was directly related to traffic fatalities and pedestrian fatalities. Subsequent studies should investigate relationships at a finer geographic scale and should strive to improve on the measure of exposure used to adjust pedestrian fatality rates."
While there are other factors that obviously affect traffic fatality and injury rates, it's been firmly established that the risk is much higher in suburban areas than in their urban counterparts. And it isn't hard to see that the comparative rate of traffic harm creates a risk higher than that posed by crime in many urban places which is the only reason the topic came up.
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> -When I used the term car dominated it was specifically to refer to areas where cars are given unreasonable domination over the public realm in terms of how infrastructure is designed and how driving is regulated and enforced. The video discussed several different elements that contributed to Miami's situation including road and intersection design, bike/pedestrian facilities, average vehicle size and cultural attitudes. 
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