I included lower quality of life because while safety and medical improvements have reduced the number of people dying (although trucks & SUVs have reversed that trend for people who aren't inside cars) it's common to hear people who didn't die but have a significant downward spiral after an accident: whiplash, back injury, inactivity, problems with chronic pain (a common path into opioid addiction) and becoming less active to the point of having health impacts. In the U.S. this is especially likely to put severe financial strain on people and their families because health care is tied to work and many of the long-term effects make it harder to work while insurance settlements are often not enough to cover more than a short time out and there are many reports about the difficulties of getting things like chronic pain taken seriously in court or by doctors (if you lose an arm, nobody argues that it happened — if your back hurts in a non-obvious way, you might be accused of faking it to get money or drugs, especially if you weren't starting from a high social status).
Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster
by baggy_trough on Monday April 26, 2021 @12:35PM
(#26944541)
"they’re directly one of the most common causes of ... lowered quality of life" - what is the basis of this statement? It seems like a manifest absurdity.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
It makes more sense if you don't trim the quote. Cars directly cause a large number of injuries and fatalities every year, and that's mostly premature — people who had decades of healthy life ahead of them until a vehicle incident, as opposed to someone in their 80s who died of cancer before heart disease got them.
Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster
by baggy_trough on Monday April 26, 2021 @01:19PM
(#26945173)
OK, that makes more sense. However, your comment does not take into consideration the benefits from cars, which should be considered to accurately assess their overall effect on quality of life.
Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster
by elite_hackers on Monday April 26, 2021 @02:47PM
(#26946383)
Do you think every citizen of earth should own a car?
Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster
by baggy_trough on Monday April 26, 2021 @02:56PM
(#26946518)
Not unless they want to.
Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster
by elite_hackers on Monday April 26, 2021 @05:03PM
(#26948091)
is that a yes or a no...
Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster
by baggy_trough on Monday April 26, 2021 @07:48PM
(#26949810)
Not every citizen on Earth wants a car, so no.