this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2024
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Fuck Cars

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[–] [email protected] -5 points 3 months ago (12 children)

Alright, and smoking kills hundreds of thousands. But more annoyingly, smokers puff their smoke into public spaces, like events, restaurants, streets etc.

They're disgusting and you have to actively avoid them to not be bothered by them. Cars stick to the road tho.

perhaps a bit of context: I don't live in the car dependent united states

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (11 children)

Hundreds of thousands when you include smokers, sure. Unlike smokers, car drivers are not so considerate as to filter their fumes through their own lungs before exposing the rest of us. But smoking in public is not frowned upon because of its effects on smokers. It is because of its effects on non-consenting bystanders. When you look only at second-hand smoke, which is what the question was really about, the numbers are very similar, in the low 10s of thousands. So again, they are extremely comparable and your attempts to deflect here are exactly the problem we’re discussing.

But more annoyingly, smokers puff their smoke into public spaces, like events, restaurants, streets etc.

Your statement leaves me truly speechless. Where do you think car fumes go, the fucking moon??? It’s amazing that those tens of thousands were able to afford a trip to the moon where they died from breathing car exhaust. Except, no, fumes in the air do not behave differently by source. They disperse and are breathed by people regardless.

I used US statistics because it’s what I’m familiar with. I doubt any developed country is substantially different. Most people drive in most developed countries, even the least car-dominated ones. Maybe pollution is 10-20% lower if that fraction don’t drive but the overall picture is the same even with that reduction.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 3 months ago (10 children)

I'm not talking about the behavior of the fumes, but the perception. Having a smoker next to you is a lot more visible and disgusting than having a car 20 meters away on the road literally already driving away.

That difference in experience makes a massive difference in how bothered people are. Hence there is a sensible reason people might pick different answers

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

But this is just culture, right? In the 70s smoking was normal and nobody was bothered by it. Now culture has changed and we see it as disgusting. With a bit of effort and luck, culture will change and driving a car in public will be seen to be just as disgusting as smoking is now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Let's hope so! Right now we have to get government support for publicly owned public transport

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