• jwmgregory@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 days ago

    “… get people off the road who shouldn’t be there in the first place…”

    i get the sentiment but i think this is problematic.

    who deserves the right to drive then?

    i hear you, “people who are capable”. but real life isn’t so cut and dry. the way it works in america now is awful fs, you can back this up with death statistics fairly easily; however, i think this tribalistic “us vs them” attitude drivers get is emblematic of deeper problems in our culture.

    everyone is all for the animal farm until they’re the other. cliche, i know, but it’s true.

    • Boomer Humor Doomergod@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Driving isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. And we determine who can drive by testing them to see if they know and will follow the rules.

      Plus the old dude I saw today with shaking hands and an oxygen tube in his nose deserves to have an alternative where he won’t kill himself or others.

      • jwmgregory@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 days ago

        oh yeah, it’s surely a privilege to be allowed to participate in society.

        the argument “driving isn’t a right, it’s a privilege” falls entirely flat on its face when there exist no alternatives for a large majority of people and their lives. hardcore boomer energy that blatantly ignores the reality on the ground.

        i agree, there are people who shouldn’t drive. i wish i didn’t have to drive.

        that simply isn’t feasible in the current reality, tho.

        driving can once again be a privilege only after it returns to no longer being a necessity. it is the natural right of all peoples to participate in their society. i agree with the sentiment, driving is a privilege that should be earned. but we should do ground work to make that true, we can’t just ignore the real world and indignantly say whatever we feel like; real life isn’t harry potter and the symbols and words we create bare no direct power over reality. driving is not a privilege in todays america, you don’t get to be the arbiter of decision here. in a practical sense, driving is necessary. the right to transportation and movement evolves with the age, man; it doesn’t get narrower as time goes on in the way a lot of western law seems to want to imply nowadays.

    • sp3ctr4l
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      3 days ago

      Death statistics?

      https://everytownresearch.org/graph/gun-death-vs-motor-vehicle-accident-deaths-since-1999/

      This source doesn’t go up to 2024, but only fairly recently have guns killed more Americans than cars, each year, and the overall numbers aren’t too far off.

      Cars certainly cause far more property damage than guns.

      Anyone in a car is easily capable of killing another human being or doing them massive injury.

      I agree with you that there are many more pervasive and complex issues … driving (sorry) Americans to be dangerous irresponsible drivers…

      But cars are deadly weapons, whether driven as such intentionally or unintentionally.

      Maybe people should be more stringently screened and qualified before they are allowed and trusted to regularly use them.

      For the record, I think you shouldn’t be able to own a firearm without having gone through a certification course, but as it stands right now, only 10 US states require that.

      https://everytownresearch.org/rankings/law/training-required-to-purchase-guns/

      All states require you complete a certification for concealed carry… but you don’t need that to legally buy and possess a gun.