xkcd

FiniteBanjo , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

Technicalities:

Planes are safer per mile but not per trip. One could argue that if people spent the same amount of time in both then it would be far more fatalities on aircrafts.

Cars are technically the major source of danger for bikes and scooters.

sus ,

also a fun fact, while commercial aviation is very safe, private planes are much more dangerous, being almost as dangerous per mile as a regular car (and you get a lot more miles per hour of travel)

14th_cylon ,

private planes are much more dangerous, being almost as dangerous per mile as a regular car

that is because they are operated by semi-competent people who often have less practice then they have in car.

imagine how competent driver you are when you have your fresh license. it is the same with piloting license. and now imagine you are a hobby pilot and can afford to spend in the cockpit 3 hours per month. your skill is not really going to get significantly better. you are probably flying airplane that is at the end of its life, because that is only one you can afford, and there may be no one keeping an eye on you telling you "this is not how we do it, it is risky, dangerous, and you will get someone killed".

AeonFelis ,

That already fits with the chart - "commercial aviation" is "airlines" and "private planes" are "light aircraft".

sus ,

how did I miss that..

Skates , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

Trains, scooters and/ motorcycles are convenient for travel? I mean sure, if you never carry anything anywhere and/or you love how every other person in the world smells after they finish their 12 hour shift of breaking big rocks with smaller rocks.

thefrankring , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation
@thefrankring@lemmy.world avatar

Now I wish I has a hot air balloon for my transportation optimization algorithm.

s_s , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

Randall is offically carpilled

sasquash , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

where to put my 3 favorites? hovercraft, monorail and blimp

marcos ,

Those first two are incredibly fit for some niche that is so small that nobody even remembers it exists.

The last one is still more practical than hot air balloons.

FiniteBanjo ,

Even with heavier propulsion, blimps and rigid airships are completely beholden to the weather as a light breeze can completely prevent landing or cause crashes.

son_named_bort ,

I watched a documentary once about the dangers of monorails. The conductor had possums in the wiring. He called the big one Bitey.

Dagwood222 , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

Someone else put it this way.

Sometimes I walk to work; sometimes I drive my car; other times i ride a bicycle. Whichever option I pick, I hate anyone who isn't doing the same thing.

captainlezbian ,

That’s not true. When I drive I still hate drivers

Dagwood222 ,

A therapist once told me that who you are when you drive is who you really are.

ShouldIHaveFun ,

I don't drive, so I guess I'm a nobody.

Dagwood222 ,

That may be the most American thing anyone has ever said!

Also, the same therapist told me that she has a number of alcoholic patients who moved to New York City simply because they knew there was a good 24 hour mass transit system and they wouldn't have to drive drunk.

Katana314 ,

Sora wants to know your location

Everythingispenguins ,

This seems totally rational to me. I think we might have a problem.

DarkCloud , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

The Dyke Delta doesn't fit anywhere on this graph.

brbposting OP ,

an American homebuilt aircraft designed in the United States in the 1960s and marketed for amateur construction.

Doesn’t get safer than that

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyke_Delta

DarkCloud ,

Hmmm, Boeing vs me being paranoid about my own safety.

ouch , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

Motorcycles should be replaced with EUCs.

misterundercoat , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

Where would horses go?

Draegur , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

and i suppose blimps and dirigibles are further to the right and lower than the graph displays u_u

MonkderDritte , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

With helicopters it's more that they're expensive than unsave.

kerrigan778 ,

They are also significantly more dangerous than an airplane though. The skill and speed needed to cope with an engine failure is a lot less forgiving and helicopters nearly always spend more time at lower altitude. Also the number of mechanical failures that result in everybody aboard essentially guaranteed dying is higher in a helicopter. Especially vs a small airplane with a parachute (parachute systems on helicopters are extremely rare especially due to altitude requirements)

Turun , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

This is wildly dependent on infrastructure. Both for the convenience and danger axis.

cucumber_sandwich ,

But hardly for hot air balloons

Turun ,

Yeah, the joke and alt text are delivered quite nicely.

Swedneck ,
@Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

motorcycles should 100% be in the zone of practicality, especially with modern sleek electric ones.

skateboards should be the bridge between practical and recreational, provided you have sensible infrastructure and short distances they have distinct benefits.

skis and sleds just need snow to make sense

Shialac ,

I think the existence of car drivers increases their danger level massively

brbposting OP ,

Apparently alcohol as well as it is involved in something like 50% of motorcycle fatalities.

Swedneck ,
@Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

it annoys me to no end how motorcycles and mopeds are viewed as dangerous, when every single time you hear about people being hurt on them it's because they're fucking idiots who tried to do a backflip infront of a semitruck

Jentu ,

Horses are technically more dangerous to ride than motorcycles. It’s just that motorcycles attract a kind of people who like doing backflips in front of a semi truck.

Swedneck ,
@Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

sure but that applies to everything, if you want to be safe then the only time you should ever be on a road is inside a bus.

Dagwood222 ,

You can be a skilled rider and still and a fall. More likely is that an unsafe car driver will do something that causes an accident.

thebestaquaman ,

I'm here to say that if there's snow, skis win on practicality. Almost every winter, there's at least one day when you will have some people skiing to work in Oslo, a city of 700 000 inhabitants, with a metro system. Because when there's 10 cm of snow in the streets, skis are the quickest and easiest way to get anywhere.

schnurrito , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

Hot air balloons are a very useful mode of transportation if your goal is to take aerial photographs from them (although admittedly nowadays you could also use drones). It's always a question of what you want to achieve.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Aerial_photographs_from_hot_air_balloons

brbposting OP ,

Interesting, that's the closest thing I've seen to a personal photo album on Wikipedia.

schnurrito ,

It is Wikimedia Commons, not Wikipedia. That is where most of the images used on Wikipedia and other WMF projects are stored. It has categories for nearly everything under the sun.

Michal , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation

I cant believe bicycles and scooters are perceived as more dangerous than cars. They're slower, offer better visibility, and kill way less people.

awesome_lowlander ,

Less dangerous to others, but more dangerous to the users themselves, I suppose.

onion ,

Because of cars

awesome_lowlander ,

Not only. I live in Norway, where pedestrians have right of way and drivers are extremely careful. Discounting the risk from cars, there's still more personal danger to users of scooters as opposed to cars. If you have an accident on a scooter, you'll get scrapes, bruises, broken bones. As compared to a car, where unless you've really screwed up, you're unlikely to take any injuries at all.

Source: scooter user who HAS broken bones

floofloof ,

The chart needs a third dimension: danger to you, danger to others, and convenience for travel.

Cryophilia ,

I think most normal people can understand the difference intuitively without needing it spelled out.

MindTraveller ,

Driving a car makes it more likely for your species to go extinct. Infinitely more dangerous than a bicycle.

14th_cylon ,

your beef is with internal combustion engine, not with the car.

MindTraveller ,

Shame this comic doesn't draw a distinction

zeekaran ,

Replace every single ICE with a BEV. Still plenty of beef.

Jentu ,

Microplastics from heavy vehicles scrubbing away their tires is a bigger issue than tailpipe emissions, which is why tailpipe emissions are the only thing focused on with regards to regulatory standards. Can’t have people thinking BEVs are similar/worse for the environment than a small car.

14th_cylon ,

ok, that's fair, never thought of that...

brettvitaz ,

I just saw a pedestrian get hit by a person on a bike and end up with a concussion. Bicyclists don’t give a fuck about others

jol ,

They are more dangerous exactly because of the existence of cars. Cars are a small fortress that makes others less safe while keeping its contents safer. Unless they hit another fortress.

Michal ,

That only makes sense if you cycle among cars, but that makes cars dangerous, not bikes. If you remove cars out of equation by cycling on pavement or cycle route, the danger is gone.

Pedestrians get hit by cars all the time yet walking is rated the safest.

jol ,

Pedestrians don't get hit by cars quite as much as cyclist, proportionally to their number, because cyclists are right in the street sharing the space with cars, trucks and buses. Cycling on the sidewalk is not allowed, and cycling lanes are often very dangerous. I understand that this chart is talking about danger to the passengers, not to others.

brbposting OP ,

If you remove cars out of equation by cycling on pavement or cycle route, the danger is gone.

If you remove air out of the equation the danger of helicopters are gone

jaybone ,

Even if there were no cars, I imagine biking is still less safe than walking. Just like running is less safe than walking.

jol ,

I'm almost afraid to ask where you've been walking.

sheogorath , (edited )

A mere fender bender on a car might be a life or death situation if you're riding a motorcycle.

Hmm. It seems that Sync posted my draft comment 😔

Michal ,

Well try getting hit by a car while walking. According to this xkcd you'll be the safest.

ealoe ,

Hit a pothole going 25mph in your car. Hit the same pothole going 25mph on your scooter. I'll come visit you in the hospital after the scooter one and we can talk about how cars are obviously safer.

I ride an electric scooter, all it takes is one crack in the road that I'm less than prepared for and I'm going down hard.

brbposting OP ,
ealoe ,

That is a good point, mine is the second variety, electric one similar to the ones you see littering any major Urban area waiting to be rented. Although even the largest scooter is still far less safe over a pothole or around a rainy curve than a car, typical accident in the car you mess up the car and get a bruise from the airbag, but a typical scooter accident can be a lot more gnarly.

Snowpix ,
@Snowpix@lemmy.ca avatar

I own an electric scooter very similar to the second one pictured (minus the RGB) so that's what I was thinking of.

tyler ,

I think most people in the USA refer to the third item as a moped, which only gives you two categories for scooter. Scooter and electric scooter, and then moped and electric moped.

Snowpix ,
@Snowpix@lemmy.ca avatar

The roads are shit here. So badly cracked that I vibrate violently when I try to ride my scooter over them at like 10km/h. And that's while dodging potholes.

JayObey711 ,

Heeeeell no. I had I minor fall on a scooter last week. I slipped at medium speed because of an uneven wet floor. I'm still fucked up and can't walk properly

Skates ,

Tell you what, you drive your bike into a car and maybe the concussion will change your thinking enough to make it believable that bikes are more dangerous.

We're not rating danger for the damn planet here. It's obviously danger for the user - that's the one who's buying the product. Why would anyone care about the safety of others over their own safety?

zbyte64 ,

Why would anyone care about the safety of others over their own safety?

As long as I can slice vegetables using my car door I don't give a damn about pedestrians.

Skates ,

I will literally shit inside any human being I don't personally know (and some that I do know) if it makes my life 0.02% more comfortable. What's your point?

zbyte64 ,

Oh I think you made the point better than me. As it is written somewhere, live by the sword die by the sword. I hope you enjoy your bowl of shit.

brbposting OP ,

The tone and content of this message indicate a severe lack of empathy and a high degree of self-centeredness, verging on sociopathic tendencies lulz, you know how to underscore a perspective right there! I wonder if that is a brand new sentence…

No need to indulge but since you got me thinking about self interest and empathy:

If you had the opportunity to gain an extra hour of sleep the next time you wanted it, but in return, someone you don't know would experience moderate discomfort for ten years. Would you be willing to make that trade-off?

Skates , (edited )

We're talking about me now? No. Of course not. Just like I wouldn't knowingly buy a car whose making process involves some random people being shit inside of. I find hyperbolic exaggerations funny and I like to use them for making a point.

The point was - you don't purchase things for others, you purchase them for yourself. A car can be a major money spender - you buy it because it gives YOU safety, and it's silly to act like you're a bad person for spending your money in a way that benefits you. But some Knights of the Broken Tire are out here pretending like they're damn selfless, like they spent all their house money on housing the homeless not their own family, and like they chose to carry that 2 year old through traffic on a bycicle, not a fucking minivan. Fuck right off with this hypocritical shit. It's okay to want the safety of yourself and your family, that's how the entire world works. You're not gonna get blamed for buying a car, drop the selfless, holier-than-thou act, nobody's buying it.

ripcord ,
@ripcord@lemmy.world avatar

I find hyperbolic exaggerations funny and I like to use them for making a point.

Good way to distract from and undermine your points, as in this case.

zbyte64 ,

I have it on good authority they got banned for abusing the report feature, so I guess we'll never know how they might respond.

lunarul ,

kill way less people

I believe the danger axis is about danger to the passengers, not others

Mighty , in xkcd #2940: Modes of Transportation
@Mighty@lemmy.world avatar

why are scooters practical and motorcycles not? I only ride a motorcycle. any distance too long for bycicle or inconvenient with public transit, I take my motorcycle.

Michal ,

Looks like only because they're presented as dangerous. Convenience - wise they're still the same. Practicality seems to be defined here as a balance between danger and convenience.

Baguette ,

The graph does say its practical, its just also more dangerous than a scooter

Edit: oh you meant in the zone of practicality, not the y axis convenient for travel. The zoning i feel is pretty subjective

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