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Comment by dbdoug | Hacker News Reader

How about 'Fatal car crash renews debate over how many cars are too many'

I'm pretty sure it's more an issue of "fatal road rage incident renews debate over how many cars are too many". You won't be doing much in the dangerous velocities department with enough cars clogging everything up.

bears cannot be built safer

Yet

neither can humans be built safer either

Surely cars can and we have seen it over and over

Cars are safer for their occupants, but never really safer for pedestrians. We’re probably making them less safe for pedestrians with all the additional armor and higher center of mass.

> but never really safer for pedestrians.

They can... Automatic breaking is a thing... My car almost had me have an accident while breaking for me (three times)... But it will get better

Hypothetically they could but it appears we are making them less safe for pedestrians and cyclists -

From 2020

> an estimated 38,800 [fatal accidents] that occurred on American streets last year. Pedestrians and cyclists accounted for 8,800 of those fatalities — 23% of the total, up from 6,300 in 2010, when they comprised just 17%. During that period, fatalities for automobile occupants fell

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-08-12/why-are-c...

The only way to make cars hitting pedestrians safer for pedestrians is making cars slower, which is a non-starter.

1] less cars

2] get cars our of cities (see Amsterdam, for example)

3] smaller cars

Smaller cars hit your legs and throw you over the car.

SUVs/trucks hit you in the chest, and drag you under the car.

Ban pedestrians. Also an realistic and effective option.

With terrible externalities, sure.

There are however ways to make cars hit pedestrians less.

I too am concerned with the bear problem in America. They flout our laws and they’re always illegally crossing our borders! We need stronger politicians who would construct a wall to keep the bears out.

How is this related to the article at all? It's about the grizzlies not car crashes

no it's more like "man who steals tank and goes on murder spree renews debate over how many motor vehicles are too many." grizzlies are far, far more dangerous than American black and brown bears—lumping them together is nonsensical.

bears are bros, grizzlies are murder machines

Aren't grizzlies brown bears?

Brown the colour of bear - no (Grizzlies and Black bears can be brown/black/tan/blonde)[0][1]. Brown the (surprisingly poorly named) species (Ursus arctos) - yes[2].

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_bear [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_bear [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_bear

I feel like the first sentence of the wiki article explains it...

>The grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies[2] of the brown bear inhabiting North America.

colloquially, the distinction is "black and brown bears" (ursus americanus) and "grizzly bears" (ursus arctos horribilis), at least around here. I hadn't heard of "brown bear" referring to a grizzly until this thread.

colloquial semantics aside though, my point stands: ursus arctos horribilis are mean mofos, ursus americanus are generally chill bros. they're my favorite animal—my grandfather was a dentist, and his friend and fellow dentist Doc Casey founded Bear Country USA, a drive-through zoo, here in the Black Hills. ursus americanus walk up to and by your cars, chill in ponds and trees, and are generally cool to be around. one of Doc Casey's sons was my godfather, and he lived with his family in a house in the middle of Bear Country, and we'd drive through the park backwards after hours to visit them when I was young. somewhere one of my parents has a VHS tape with an ursus americanus cub playing with my dog.

Bear Country used to have grizzlies, in a separate pen with multiple layers of barbed wire and electric fencing, but I think they don't have any anymore because they were too much trouble.

whenever you see a funny bear video online, it's an ursus americanus—they're kind of bumbling, funny creatures, until provoked. ursus arctos horribilis are savage killers by comparison.

I lived in bear country, and still live relatively close and visit all the time. I think it's just generally safe to assume if someone says brown bear, it's a grizzly. Like the old saying doesn't work as well like

If it's black, fight back

If it's ursus arctos horribilis, lay down

If it's white, goodnight.

fair enough!

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