Five people were able to escape a hot, acidic pond in Yellowstone National Park after the sport utility vehicle they were riding in went off the road and into an inactive geyser, park officials said Friday.

The passengers were able to get out of the 105 degree Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius) water on their own after the crash Thursday morning and were taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, park spokesperson Morgan Warthin said in a statement.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    There are minimal details available.

    What makes you say distracted driver?

    Heart attack, stroke, seizure, bee sting, wasp, spider bite, snakes, malfunction of the vehicle, vehicle unknowingly damaged, avoiding wildlife, avoiding other drivers, spilled hot coffee, incidental choking, heat exhaustion, dehydration, bald tires, poorly maintained road without proper signage, Maybe someone’s cell phone battery blew up and it startled the driver.

    There’s 1000 reasons a car accident can happen. We don’t need to assume the worst in people.

    I’m all for a little shame if we find out they were hammered listening to bon Jovi with their heads out the window, yeah. But like, chill.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      No lie. And besides, the author would be a fool to even hint at the driver’s culpability with no information. That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Since they got out on their own and walked away from it, you can rule out the more serious medical possibilities

      • foggy@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Not really. Any of the other 4 could have rescued the 5th who may have been incapacitated.

        This article provides basically 0 information.

        There’s no reason to make assumptions that belittle others without evidence.

    • Malfeasant@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      All of those things are possible, but statistically, being distracted is far more likely than any of them… More likely than most of them combined, even.

      • foggy@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Source?

        I cannot find anything that even remotely agrees with that stance.

        this study is from 2007 - 2018. Doesn’t even rank.

        Forbes is saying about 8% of deaths, but not much else.

        8% isn’t a lot, it certainly isn’t more than any others combined…

    • vxx@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Your whole list would result in varying degrees of distraction.

      • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        The term “distracted driving” refers specifically to the driver not paying attention when they should have been, and not to them being “distracted” by some event that they have to respond to.

    • Justin@lemmy.jlh.name
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      1 month ago

      Hot take, all of those are the driver’s fault. Aside from unexpected health conditions, but you don’t see people just walking down the street and falling over every day. Heck, you get your license suspended if your doctor even thinks you have a risk of seizures.

      If you can’t control your car in any of those other conditions, and/or avoid those conditions, you should not be behind the wheel of a deadly vehicle.