Riding transit takes almost twice as long as driving (2017)

Re:Riding transit takes almost twice as long as driving (2017) by pandaman on Monday August 01, 2022 @01:41PM (#32309497)

I genuinely believe that you consider driving more stressful than walking. I know for sure that many people don't. If you have time you can walk to the nearest busy intersection, stand and observe drivers. You will see that many are talking on the phone or with the passengers, check their phones, apply makeup and act in many other ways incongruent with the behavior of people in mortal danger. Moreso, people routinely fall asleep while driving and I am not aware of people falling asleep while walking. This implies that driving is more relaxing than walking.

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Re:Riding transit takes almost twice as long as driving (2017) by atwood22 on Monday August 01, 2022 @02:26PM (#32310203)

How is checking your phone incongruous with being in a stressful situation? I was very stressed while my partner gave birth. I still checked my phone. And plenty of people walking check their phones. And those who walk and use their phone likely use their phone more competently than those who drive and use their phone. That implies walking has less mental overhead.

And how does falling asleep imply relaxation? If anything, falling asleep implies mental fatigue. So we can assume driving adds more mental strain. There are entire studies done on driver visual search patterns when driving [0]. What kind of visual search pattern do you use when walking? Are you constant scanning the horizon looking for potential hazards? In fact, walking is generally considered to be an automated activity [1].

[0]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16127339/ [1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4879139/

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Re:Riding transit takes almost twice as long as driving (2017) by pandaman on Monday August 01, 2022 @02:54PM (#32310544)

I don't know, did I really say that it's incongruous with stress? I believe I had been talking about mortal danger. Do you see tight rope walkers checking their phones? Base jumpers, rock climbers, deck hands on a fishing trawler, firemen in a burning building, cops during a traffic stop, any other people during genuinely dangerous situation?

And yes, walking is not stressful for most people, that's the point of my first reply in this thread. There are people that find being outside as stressful as you find driving if not more, it's a real condition called agoraphobia. It's silly to pretend everyone is affected by such a condition though and trying to rationalize this is not strengthening such an argument IMHO.

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Re:Riding transit takes almost twice as long as driving (2017) by atwood22 on Monday August 01, 2022 @03:48PM (#32311182)

Rock climbers definitely check their phones, just fyi. Apparently the police check their phones in active shooter situations as well (see Uvalde shooting). If the crux of your argument is that because people check their phones while driving, it is equally or less stressful then walking, then it's not a convincing argument.

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Re:Riding transit takes almost twice as long as driving (2017) by pandaman on Monday August 01, 2022 @03:52PM (#32311226)

You mean people climbing walls in gyms or actual rock climbers in the mountains where they may die? I specifically mentioned police during traffic stop, police definitely check they phones when they feel safe, as other professions I mentioned. Not when their life is on the line.

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