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Let’s be real: they’re terrified that they might be forced to be near poor people, minorities, gays, and mentally ill folk.
Bingo. I’ve talked to many of them online and it always boils down to this. It’s never that they’re actually in any danger. It’s just they feel scared. They drive their big trucks because it makes them feel safe.
Meanwhile puny me rides the subway daily.
They’re weak, scared, and pathetic. Too xenophobic to interact with anyone or anything outside their coddled circles that might make them feel “”“uncomfortable”“”.
Might surprise you, but on feeling scared: I once heard that a slim majority of SUV drivers were women. In some ways it makes sense - if they’d normally be vulnerable walking the streets alone, a less vulnerable vehicle gives them a feeling of safety.
It’s not a surprise. There’s some good analysis of vehicle advertisements, and one of the big emotions they push with SUV ads is the feeling of being safe in a ‘bad’ situation.
Fear based advertising (in general)
Article that is often quoted about fear in advertising
That’s nice, no medication I’ve found yet lets me ride public transportation without constantly freaking out from human proximity but I bet it is just so pleasant to have a normal brain
Their “News tm” is constantly telling them cities are hellholes full of junkies and murderers and murderous junkies.
Most of them have no clue how the world outside their pickup truck windows works.
One of these things is not like the other
Which one is the one you’d single out?
or they could be, like me, mentally ill folk who really cannot handle being forced to be around other people
But generalizations are fun aren’t they!
You arent the main character bruh
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I didnt say get over yourself, you literally just made that up
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No, I think that’s a fair summary of your attitude.
No, I think thats a fair summary of your attitude.
Everyone is the main character of their story.
His story is other peoples stories are the same as his story.
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That is an extremely callous thing to say.
No it isnt lmao. Cheer up buttercup 😘
Every single conservative man is mentally ill?
EDIT: to anyone reading this, the person I’m replying to is very clearly a troll. Just read their post history. Do not engage! (:
LOL
Possibly…
His username is angry autist, just BTW. Bit of a hint there.
In my defense: I’m stupid.
Add a little nuance to your argument and I’ll engage
Also you didn’t parse the sentence correctly, I was specifically referring to MY mental illnesses
Add a little nuance & good faith to your conclusion on my initial statement, and I’ll engage, too! Maybe you should re-read things to nake sure you’re not misunderstanding something.
— Sincerely, someone who is also struggles with mental illness, including severe anxiety & agoraphobia.
Nothing in my statement said conservatives, you made that up out of bad faith so why are you demanding good faith now?
Why cripple myself with rules you refuse to follow?
…did you not read the text of which this entire post is about, or…?
Um, that’s not my post. That’s not even from lemmy.
What the fuck is wrong with you?
I’ve done both.
Safest place in the subway is at the front of the first car near the motorman. Second best is the front of the second car. If there’s trouble you can move to the first car [with the motorman easily] and have two doors between you and the troublemaker.
Public transport is directly correlated with ridership numbers. When using public transport is the best mobility option, then everyone from all backgrounds will use it and that leads to less bullshit being done.
The numbers are pretty early but the congestion pricing in NYC has apparently already led to less crime in the subway.
The latest Climate Town vid is great.
You also shouldn’t use your phone if you’re right near the doors. It’s too easy for someone to grab it and exit the car as the doors close.
The fact that this kind of thinking is necessary makes me so sad and angry for you.
Yeah. On my city’s light rail I can literally leave my phone charging next to my seat when I go to the bathroom and no one will take it. In fact it’s common for people to do that.
Ya’ll have a bathroom on your light rail? Are we still talking about simple metro systems are is that not a full-blown “train”(I put it quotes because they’re all trains, but you get the idea).
It’s like halfway between a train and a tram and it goes partially underground.
I think light rail is the right name?
To me, a light-rail is something that operate within a municipality. Like, it’s for commuting and isn’t too intense, but differs from a subway because it is not strictly underground. Having a bathroom in a light-rail setup would be like having one on a metro whereas having a bathroom on an inter-city train makes a whole lot more sense.
Our public transit doesn’t have bathrooms or phone chargers :(
The only trains I’ve been on with both were inter city trains but regional trains usually have bathrooms too. It’s just the subways and similar that haven’t had bathrooms in my experience.
Try New Delhi
It is sad. It wasn’t always like this. When I was growing up I could walk anywhere as a kid and every adult on the block had their eye on me. A lot has changed in NYC in 40 years.
My brother in Christ, NYC was fucking wild in the 80’s. How are you even comparing?
It was, but neighbors were more aware and vigilant. People spent more time outside in the streets in residential areas, and knew their neighbors. I remember walking with my sister to get Italian ices when I was no more than 10 years old, and every other building had neighbors out front waving hello. We also couldn’t do anything we shouldn’t be doing without someone yelling from across the way. Now the same neighborhood seems lifeless and desolate. People just stay inside and mind their own. It’s just not as communal as it used to be.
I’m terrified of riding the nyc subway because I don’t understand how it works amd I’ll get lost.
its really well designed and easy. with a smartphone, navigating the city is so easy I think a 10yo could do it. that said, my parents might have trouble, but only cause they get freaked out.
I just looked at your metro map. As a San Diego resident, we need to step out game up. We barely have a trolley system compared to your subway.
I grew up on a farm, basically the rural part of a rural county in a rural state. When I visited San Diego I got on a bus going the wrong direction (which isn’t a thing I even realized you could do wrong). Ended up having to wait an hour for another bus in a sketchy part of town, at night, while in cosplay.
Felt like that episode of SpongeBob where they get stuck at Rock Bottom.
I live in San Diego (well, in east county) and it’s particularly a mess here. The geography leads to no real structure, roads just sorta go where they can fit. This and a general lack of public transportation infrastructure means it’s easy to get lost or take forever to get where you’re going. Luckily it’s pretty safe, as cities go. We have a lot of unhoused folks but they’re just here for the weather. I’d rather be stuck downtown somewhere at night than out here in the rural SD area, buncha fuckin white supremacists are my neighbors
Just use your phone now, use transit directions. It’ll tell you exactly where to go. And if you go to the wrong place, you can always just go back
Conservative men are terrified of everything. Perpetual fear and petty grievances are the cornerstones of the entire conservative ethos.
I ride the subway all the time and haven’t been murdered yet. AMA
Ever seen something as cool as pizza rat?
Rat wise, no, unless you want to count the inflatable
but there’s crazy people on the subway
You don’t think there’s crazy people on the highway? And on the highway they’re controlling a 2 ton killing machine in a sometimes stressful situation.
I’ll take the crazy guy yelling in the corner of the subway then see what he’s like behind the wheel of one of those huge pickup trucks during traffic.
Yeah like what the fuck? Every time I drive on a highway I encounter at least one potential life-ending moment, where if I hit the breaks one second too late I’ll die. This is absolutely a trillion times worse than the slim chance of getting a subway car lit on fire lol
Then you are not giving the proper distance. If you experience this every time you drive you are probably the problem.
If you can’t conceive of a situation where you need to slam the brakes due to external factors despite following the recommended 2-second following distance, you’re ignorant of the depths of bad driving. Have you really never been cut off before?
I would go so far as to say that if you’re not noticing at least a single example of dangerous driving nearly every time you leave the house, you’re probably not aware enough to be a safe driver.
Every time? No. If it happens every time, you’re the problem. This shit is outta pocket. Or you live in thunderdome.
Just a fairly normal North American city, actually. So yeah - thunderdome.
Dear diary,
I met mad max today, great driver, very aggressive.
Sometimes it’s “just” a dead girl hit by a speeding SUV a couple blocks away from their school. Even something as simple as a bit of extra speed has a remarkable influence on life or death. Both in avoiding and mitigating harm.
Not as exciting as Max Max, but nice movie reference.
I would go so far as to say that if you’re not noticing at least a single example of dangerous driving nearly every time you leave the house
Dangerous driving, not slam the brakes every time lol
Brakes, not breaks.
And no way are you driving safely if that happens every day.
I only drive safely on the days I choose to drive - and yet, I somehow still always see unsafe driving every day.
Also those scary moments are fun. Maybe that’s just a me thing though.
Every time I drive on a highway I encounter at least one potential life-ending moment, where if I hit the breaks one second too late I’ll die
What highway is this?
Fury road.
If you’re having near death experiences every single day, that has to be something you’re doing wrong.
^^^
I’m with you but driver’s licenses are meant to help weed those out. I think they are likely rarer but not uncommon.
I’m more terrified of driving a car in a city than on a highway. In a city one small mistake can mean killing a child or something. On the highway I can go at a moderate speed in the right lane without distractions.
Either way I prefer rails tho
Already afraid of this on an e bike.
Saw a mom walking on the road (next to a perfectly available sidewalk) with her small child following her 2 meters behind her.
Fucking hell if that kid randomly ran to my side, I would have hit her.
I hate this shit so much
In my state, statistics show that there are more fatalities on rural roads than in metro areas… and 80% of us live in the metro areas.
My car is 900kg with a straight-through muffler. No kid is going under it. Just don’t drive a tank through school zones.
straight-through muffler
I hope you throw a rod through the oil pan.
If you don’t like it, I’ll take it off.
😅 plz no.
Every time I get scared on a train, I just imagine a video of a train versus a car
I imagine the fear isn’t so much about accidents as it is about interacting with crazy people or crime.
Or getting on the wrong train and be carried away in the wrong direction and miss your appointment.
That person wasn’t in the country legally, so not a situation that would apply to many people.
Although the idea of accidentally driving to another country is very strange to me, there’s no way to leave my country without knowing it.
I used to be a big fan of public transport, but after covid it went to shit in my country or rather, it went to shit in my part of the country. Pretty sure it is still great in Copenhagen. Those lucky bastards.
As an American who visited Copenhagen post-covid, the public transport is amazing.
Right? Oh noooo I missed the metroooo. 🤭 2 minutes until the next one arrives?! Whatever will I doooo? 😜 And that is just the metro. Ignore the busses and trains which are also plenty and usually on time. Those lucky, lucky bastards.
Meanwhile in my neck of the woods: 💨
I could go into my public transportation horror stories, but I think it’s better to conclude my comment with the fact that my boyfriend and I, who were both big fans of public transportation, ended up buying a car because we literally had no other choice.
my boyfriend and I, who were both big fans of public transportation, ended up buying a car because we literally had no other choice.
As a car guy, this breaks my heart. Because you probably bought something reasonable and practical and egg-shaped.
Nothing that stirs your passions. Nothing you look back on in the parking lot and think “I can’t believe that’s my car.”
As someone who thinks cars can be an art form, forcing people who don’t want cars to buy cars dilutes that art. Like making amazing designers make ads for bottled water or something.
Cars should be like horses are now: Beautiful and running in a field. Cared for as cherished pets. Not resigned to bumper-to-bumper traffic, waiting for someone who hates driving to attempt to merge with a “Please let me merge before I cry” bumper sticker, herding the semi who’s just trying to do their job and not kill someone who should not be driving.
Yeah man! It was even white like an egg too because we couldn’t afford a color xD
I will say that for my boyfriend’s part, I think our little egg car has brought him a lot of joy because he has more time and energy now that he doesn’t have to get up at 3.30 in the morning to get to work at 8.00. He likes nature too so he goes on several trips in his spare time to places he wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise, so if it is of any solace to you, our goofy little car has done some good to us. We even talk more because he started calling me on his commute home from work to chat about our day. During the public transport days, there was none of that because he was totally wiped out from being on the go since night time and into the afternoon where the only train or bus home would be home in our city around 18.00 or even 20.00 some days. For years our relationship was good morning and good night on week days because of how fucky public transport is and this was before covid too xD I feel like our car gave me back my boyfriend so I can’t hate on it too much even if it is ugly and boring to look at.
But yeah, I appreciate your love for cars. I really feel your passion through your words. To me, cars are just a vehicle that takes you places so it’s nice to hear someone else’s perspective and having them remind you that cars could be more than just four wheels that drives you around.
Right? Plus they’re clean and well-lit.
I’ve spent some time in North Jutland too - I don’t think I saw a bus or train. It felt much more like home in terms of needing a car.
Yeah, they don’t care about investing in public transport for us because we are too rural or some shit like that. It’s not like we don’t want to use it. We just get ignored while Copenhagen is the darling of the land lol. It’s the result of centralization politics for decades that drives people into the cities while smaller communities in the countryside are starved of options like public transport, doctors and even shopping facilities. It was a very systematic move on politicians parts and I have lived both in bigger cities and smaller towns and witnessed the centralization happen in real time and how the smaller towns have been slowly strangled to death. It sucks. It didn’t used to be like this.
I’ve never almost died on a bus.
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Depends on the bus / area.
There is real time bus tracking now in most places so you can see when things will arrive = WAY better for dealing with traffic (note traffic is a thing for cars as well)
I’m in Portland OR and of course a bus going through a bad area is more likely to have people who are “not ok” (addicts) but the vast majority of our busses are clean and climate controlled and filled with perfectly lovely friendly people.
And risk assessment is based on what is likely. My aunt smoked her whole life and never got lung cancer so my “personal experience” is that smoking doesn’t cause cancer. You see what I’m saying?
Cars are more dangerous than busses. Period. You might not like them for any number of perfectly valid reasons, and a specific bus in a specific area might be more dangerous - but the point of the post is that personal preference and accurate risk assessment are not the same thing.
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You can’t generalize about public transport across the whole of the USA. It’s very variable between different cities, and some have pretty good systems.
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Either way you risk a possibility of being rear-ended.
In a train? That seems very unlikely though not impossible.
Context to the subway?
In America the metro is seen as where there are lots of poor people and drug addicts and the rich people tend to prefer to buy fancy cars and drive them.
It’s kind of the same logic as to why america is one of the few countries where the poor people tend to live in the city center, but the rich people out in the suburbs.
Thanks!
This is a gross simplification. Public transportation IS full of mentally ill people and the homeless, and lots of women feel unsafe on busses and trains. It’s not the rich who prefer personal vehicle transport; everyone does
Counterpoint, the highways are also full of mentally ill people and statistically it’s more risky to drive than take the bus / train.
I think people fear violent death more than they fear accidental death. If american cities want more people to ride public transportation, they need to clean up public transportation. If you’ve been outside of the US you see how countries with far fewer resources than us do a lot more with their public transportation.
They’re cleaner, less noisy, and the police will actually do something about antisocial behavior on the trains. Until we have something like that in thr US, I will avoid taking the bus
I think control has a lot to do with it as well. We feel better when we’re in control and on a subway you are most definitely not in control of the vehicle, or the people inside it. Regardless that it’s statistically safer than driving. I think people feel safer driving because they feel in control. Drivers can choose the route, who is in their vehicle, and when to stop. Those are things that we feel when we assess risk, even if it’s counter intuitive.
Well it’s also way more convenient to drive in most places. Public transportation in most American cities doesn’t work well
You know what really “cleans up” public transportation? More people riding it than just those who have no other choice. I grew up in Boston, lots of people rode the subway, I never felt unsafe. Now I live in Phoenix, the bus system sucks so bad I couldn’t even tell you what it feels like to ride one because I never have, anywhere I want to go would take at least 2 routes if not 3, with nearly an hour wait at each connection, I could seriously ride a bicycle there quicker, and have, even in 110°+ heat, at least in my younger days- damn near gave myself heat stroke last time I tried which was ~5 years ago… I have at least ridden the light rail, which isn’t terrible, but doesn’t run very frequently, and isn’t that close to my house, and doesn’t go that many interesting places… I could take the kids to the science center, but it’s a bit long for them to walk to our nearest stop, about a mile and a half… There’s a park & ride, but at that point, we might as well take the car…
Broken glass, fire, impalement, road rash, and being thrown around like a rag doll… thinking highway death isn’t violent is just a very fortunate lacking in imagination.
It’s so much more than this, and it just seems like you don’t have any experience that you’re drawing from. My main experience is the subway in Manhattan (and trains from NJ to get there). You go from the chronically late trains in NJ, to the poor infrastructure in NY, and whether or not the train smells like piss, or there’s someone who I am desperately trying to to avoid making eye contact with, just ends up being the cherry on top of what was an unenjoyable and often unnecessarily long trip.
Me and the boys boarding be like
pssh. they’re both easy.
I remember going to NYC for a gig and I had a hotel in Manhattan and I got a lift from a coworker going to Long Island. That highway drive scared the shit out of me. He was changing lanes without signalling and weaving in and out of traffic.
I was gonna tell my account manager about it but my account manager said something like, oh he gave you a lift? did you know he was too scared to drive on the highway until I taught him how?
There are set of rules that everyone follows, so it’s more like an orchestrated dance. If you don’t know the rules, that’s fair to be freaked out in those situations. In Seattle, we have drivers from all over the world with they’re own rules, that’s got its own issues. I think NYC does too, but most people from somewhere else get a ride from someone who knows the rules, like you, or walk or whatever.
What he’s describing aren’t rules for driving in NYC, it’s just an asshole driver. People generally drive more quickly and more closely together here (the same way we walk), but the weaving in and out is a dick move
That’s fair, I didn’t catch the part that it was on the highway. You do have to weave a bit downtown.
Got it. The rule in Manhattan is just be assertive. Everyone is suffering driving, and everyone knows it. If you’re assertive people will let you in, if you’re not people are going to blow past you.
This has, however, gotten much easier with congestion pricing
