I'm assuming that Bill Johnson has look at statistics on deaths per kilogram-kilometer (or deaths per ton-mile if you don't like Metric). And, yes, there are other factors affecting that, e.g., condition of road surface.
Personally, I think that truck speed and truck size are independent variables, so I would like to see a study that did a four-way comparison: large-fast, large, slow, small-fast, small-slow. I suspect that speed is more relevant than size, but data trump suspicions. And what about shipping by rail or, where feasible, by boat? -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] on behalf of Bob Bridges [robhbrid...@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, August 7, 2023 7:32 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: [EXT] Re: Cloud may be overpriced compared to on-premises systems This is off-topic, and I'll happily take it up with both Bill and Shmuel offline if requested. But I may as well point out that "fewer deaths" may not be as simple as they're assuming. It seems likely to me as well that if we had smaller trucks going slower, fewer people would die in accidents caused by bigger trucks going faster. But how many people would die because of smaller trucks going slower? You gotta compare deaths to deaths, not simply deaths to nothing. Why would people die from smaller trucks going slower? Well, a good deal less cargo would be transported as a result, and I surmise (but it's only surmise) that there'd be a lot more pressure on drivers, as a result, to produce more. Some of that pressure would translate to tired drivers. And all of it would translate to more expensive transportation, meaning that poorer people would have increased difficulty affording the goods that are cheaper now. Don't assume I'm saying that it's better as we do things now. I'm not; I'm just saying that "this cause of death would be reduced" is no help unless you can estimate how many deaths would also increase. And if anyone thinks there'd be NO deaths owing to more expensive goods, I'll just shut up. --- Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313 /* A good scare is worth more than good advice. -Horace (65 BC – 8 BC) */ -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Bill Johnson Sent: Monday, August 7, 2023 18:45 For Americans here who’ve never been to Europe, trucks in Europe are much smaller than US trucks, are required to have governors to limit their speed, and are restricted to the right lane. The result is far fewer traffic deaths involving trucks. In addition, Europeans almost never drive pickups and their automobiles are much smaller. Their rates of deaths and serious injury are far less than America. So for you pro life people, perhaps some road restrictions would keep more people alive. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
