Just Like Home

[ricevermicelli]

I was walking back to my hotel tonight when I heard the familiar *whump* *crash* *breaking glass* of a car accident at the intersection a block away. I called 911, and by the time I got to the end of the block, they had two cruisers on scene. Impressive response time.

Freaking dumb accident. Two idiots trying to run the same red light ran into each other head on. No one hurt though.

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Running the same red light and hitting each other head-on?!

Heavens. Talk about evolution in action.

[darxus.livejournal.com]

But they lived. See the flaw in seatbelt laws, etc.

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

In the long-run, seatbelt laws suffer from the insurance problem: you're safer, and therefore willing to take more dangerous risks, which increases mortality again. It isn't linear, of course, because of marginal return considerations (i.e. going from 65-70 is worth a bit more risk than going from 75-80 is.)

Also, you're making the mistake of thinking a priori that you know what "fittest" is. Think of changing laws as simple changes in the environment - that they survived the collision indicates they're fit for the current environment, not that they just sleazed through because of peculiar conditions, or a government propping up the stupid.

Seatbelt laws are no different than required childhood immunizations for short-circuiting natural selection, if that were actually possible.