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I think this is a classic example of expert bias. If you ask a group of people that design roads for a living what the #1 factor in road safety is you are going to hear about road design.

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Yes! Better to derive all knowledge from first principles, the true HN way. That way there’s no bias.

Needlessly obnoxious retort, as gp is exactly right. There is no a priori reason to zero in on road design as a major contributory factor given the huge range of possibilities. One can easily apply profound selection bias in a complex problem simply by choosing which experts to ask.

No, without additional evidence it’s a terrible argument that could apply to almost anything. Data and experience is better than an “a priori reason” every time.

Tfa addresses reasons cell phone use may not be as explanatory as we think. If you want to argue against that, great, but bring some evidence. Anything else is just hot air.

The article did more to argue that distracted driving isn’t the #1 contributor than it did to argue road design is.

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