It could have four multiple helper arms to assist you. You could read a paper without using your arms. Just avoid having any tragic accidents while wearing them.
That's a good approach for many. However, for the 25% of men who suffer from low testosterone- it's not as effective. Just like women can get gestational diabetes, men can get diabetes from other causes (including low T) and all the dieting and vegetabling in the world won't help.
Likewise, if you come from certain racial backgrounds- the diet approach isn't nearly as effective.
However- a healthy diet is good for other things (heart disease for one- subject to the same limitations of course).
Healthy food doesn't have to taste bad. Herbs and other seasoning goes a long way as does using a variety of cooking methods. Roasting can produce delicious vegetables.
You know...in over 35 years of driving- I've never seen anyone driving 20 mph under the speed limit who didn't have hazard lights on because they were having an auto problem of some kind.
Lol, I was going to ask where you lived (and jokingly suggested Florida) but now I see you DO live in Florida.
The data does show that 85+ drivers are as dangerous as 16-19 year olds. And living in florida you have a higher percentage of drivers that old.
I ask because random things do happen. I've been hit three times while my car was stationary. I wasn't at fault.
Each time I was stopped at a red light.
Once, the truck in front of me suddenly put the car into reverse and backed into me at over 10mph. He really gunned it.*
Once the lady behind me suddenly accelerated into me. The light was still red. She mostly mangled her front end on my bike rack and didn't damage my car. Somehow, she'd gotten confused and thought the light had changed. Even tho I and the cars ahead of me weren't moving.*
And once two high school students had an accident over 100' back- one's airbag stunned her and she sailed straight towards me. I saw her coming and managed to get the car up to 10mph and tried to get out of their but didn't make it. Totaled my car.
I stop at red lights behind the white lines and stop where I can see the bottom of the tires of the car ahead of me. But random things just happen.
*These two accidents were in a big dodge durango SUV. But it was a very neutral dove grey. I wonder if the accidents could have been avoided with a brighter color and have stayed in brighter/stronger colors since I sold that car.
70-74 year olds are slightly less risky than 25-29 year olds and slightly more risky that 30-65 year olds.
75-79 year olds are similar in risk to 20-24 year olds but with less fatal accidents.
80+ are less risky than 16-19 year olds and slightly more risky than 20-24 year olds (12 accidents per million miles vs 10 accidents per million miles, ~4.5 injurious accidents vs ~4.0 accidents, and about the same (~2.5 vs ~2.8) fatal accidents.
This is true both per 100,000 licensed driver and per 1,000,000 miles driven.
"More risky" is not the same as "dangerous". Especially not "slightly more risky".
BTW, the rates are very similar per million miles driven as well. Look elsewhere in this thread for that data.
Any argument for restricting elderly driving really fails for ages all the way up to 79-80.
They drive as safely as 19 year olds til then. If you only consider accidents resulting in fatalities or injuries, 79-80 year old drivers are still safer than 19 year olds at that point.
I remember my grandpa had one car accident at 61. He accelerated into a wall instead of braking in the last few seconds of parking. No one was hurt except the wall and his bumper.
I know (and have known a lot of) people who are 30-55 and who get in a lot of accidents and are often not at fault. One of them specifically told his wife recently that he won't follow at a correct distance because other people will change lanes into the open space.
When someone starts tailgating, you need to slow down to account for their stopping distance (drivers ed training).
Also keep in mind that accidents have a random component. Does your aunt average 3 accidents a year? And how old is she? Did she also get in a lot of accidents when she was younger or has the rate increased sharply? You sort of imply she's had these driving habits for a long time.
Individuals of any age may have or develop particular problems or driving habits which make them unsafe drivers.
The results are surprisingly similar for the rate per million miles driven as well.
It's not until age 79 and 80 that senior involvement in accidents and fatal accidents increases to that of 18 year olds.
70-74 year olds have essentially the same total accident rate, fatal accident rate, and injurious accident rate as 25-29 year olds at about 6t/2i/1f accidents per million miles driven.
Their record is better than 16-24 year olds.
---
Look, if you want to say older people are not as safe as 34-44 year olds- you have my complete agreement. But we both know you are not arguing that only 34-44 year olds should be allowed to drive. And 34-44 year olds are only marginally safer than 25-29 year olds. All drivers from 30 to 65 are in the sweet spot with regard to accidents running about 5 accidents per million miles.
When you only consider fatal or injurious accidents- the rate per mile for even the extreme elderly is below that of 16-19 year olds.
Again- I put about 20,000 miles a year on my car and I *rarely* encounter these "old" people who are so dangerous or driving below the speed limit. I do encounter people who are driving the speed limit. They are not all old.
Per 15 miles I drive on the freeway, I encounter several tail gaters, several people making reckless lane changes, and a couple people going 20mph over the speed limit and 10mph more than traffic around them. I encounter 3-5 people who run red lights each week. I've seen some horrific T-Bone accidents over the last few years. Not one of them has involved a senior.
The parent poster was engaging in blatant age discrimination.
---
I wish they gave tickets for tailgating. It would prevent a lot of accidents. I wish they still enforced the rules of the road too. Today the police seem focused on speed traps at the end of the month and that's it.
I'm not confusing sales people with true scotsman.
I'm speaking from experience of what is actually happening out there.
Sales jobs are declining. Median and average compensation for sales jobs is not keeping up with inflation and in many cases is being cut in real terms.
As I said, once you reach million dollar purchases from a company- you justify a sales person. If you are only buying a few hundred thousand dollars of product, it more cost effective for them to route you into an automated solution.
But where I was- million dollar sales were not even enough- you had to have multi-million dollar sales or you were sent to automated order entry.
Look- perhaps things are better in your area- I'm just saying what the reality is in my neck of the woods.
The results are surprisingly similar for the rate per million miles driven as well.
It's not until age 79 and 80 that senior involvement in accidents and fatal accidents increases to that of 18 year olds.
70-74 year olds have essentially the same total accident rate, fatal accident rate, and injurious accident rate as 25-29 year olds per million miles driven.
The parent poster's statement just struck me as blatant age discrimination. It's apparent from the data (both per licensed driver and per mile driven) that it was.
He was ignoring the timber in his own eye while pointing out the speck in other's eyes.
Tailgating, reckless driving, and poor driving skills cause accidents.
The rate at which old people (70-74) are involved accidents PER mile is similar to the rate which 20-24 year olds are involved in accidents. The rate at which old people cause fatal accidents PER mile is lower than 20-24 year olds.
Stop living in denial. Driving less than a car length per 10 mph behind someone, texting, speeding 20mph faster than the traffic around you, aggressive reckless driving. These cause accidents and these behaviors are much more common among the young.
Just about everyone I know has a story of some car passing them at 20mph over the speed limit and scaring the hell out of them and then seeing the likely fatal accident a couple miles down the road.
Considering all police-reported accidents, teenage drivers had 3.3 times the overall risk, and the oldest drivers had 2.0 times the overall risk per mile.
For 70-74 year old drivers the risk per mile of all accidents is similar to 20-24 year old drivers. The risk of fatal accidents is lower.
ANALYSIS OF ACCIDENT RATES BY AGE, GENDER, AND TIME OF DAY BASED ON THE 1990 NATIONWIDE PERSONAL TRANSPORTATION SURVEY Dawn L. Massie and Kenneth L. Campbell
---
You know-- I just never see 70 year olds weaving back and forth in traffic, cutting people off, passing within 2' of other cars at speeds over 80mph. I also never see 70 year olds speeding 20mph faster than the rest of traffic around them.
Seriously- never happens. And I put 20,000 miles a year on my car on a mixture of highways and city streets.
At the still spritely age of 53, my experience is that accidents are caused mostly by tailgating, reckless driving (including driving like it's not raining or snowing), aggressive driving, and poorly maintained vehicles.
Tailgating is a huge cause of accidents. I've seen people tailgating at 10 mph over the speed limit in the SLOW lane. And they were not on autopilot either.
But here... how about a list from the industry..
Top 10 Causes of Accidents.
1. Speeding While Driving and Reckless Driving: Failing to follow the speed limit is the most common cause of traffic accidents in the United States.
2. Use of Mobile Phone â" Texting While Driving: The proliferation of mobile phone use has resulted an increased level of danger on our roads. In response national and state legislatures have passed strict anti texting laws; while the judicial system has begun to charge individuals whoâ(TM)s texting while driving resulted in deaths, with manslaughter.
3. Other forms of Distracted Driving - There are numerous types of distracted driving. Some of the most common types of distractions resulting in high incidences of traffic accidents include, eating, smoking, listening to loud music or changing the dial, reaching for objects in the vehicle, and looking or talking with other passengers in the vehicle.
4. Driver Fatigue â" Falling Asleep in the Wheel â" According to recently published data driver fatigue is the cause of 2.5-3.0 percent of all roadway related fatalities in the United States. Individual that have a history of falling asleep at the wheel may be prosecuted for a criminal offense.
5. Drunk Driving â" and Driving While Under the Influence of a Narcotic Substance: According to studies driving while under the influence of alcohol results in a 900% increase in the probability of an auto accident.
6. Rubber-necking â" Rubbernecking is another type of distracted driving and takes place when drivers look other things on the road not linked to their driving. Examples include watching other accidents, looking at sunsets, and nice views.
7. Defective Automobile and Automobile Parts â" Common auto defects that can cause severe injuries to occupants include, tire defects, defective design of Sport Inutility Vehicles resulted in vehicles being more prone to rollovers, seatbelt defects and defective airbags.
8. Defects on Roadway Construction â" The improper design of roadways result in hundreds of auto accident fatalities each year. Liable parties can include CALTRANS and construction contractors for improper installment of traffic lights and roadway signals.
9. Poor Weather Conditions â" Example of weather condition posing the greatest dangers to motorists on the road includes, icy roads, high winds, and rain after a prolonged drought resulting in oily surfaces.
10. Improper Coning off of Construction Zones â" Road work is needed to maintain and built the countries transportation infrastructure. However in many cases road construction crews fail to safely cordon off construction zones resulting in an increased probability of auto accidents.
---
Given a choice between the young Ninja driver swooping back and forth in traffic, the monster truck person tail gating so close you can count the bugs on their grill, or an older person driving 5-10mph below the speed limit-- I'll take the old person every day. All I have to do is wait for a safe opportunity, turn on my signal and pass.
However this is VERY rare in my experience.
Crazy frightening reckless aggressive drivers are very common. I encounter 50 of them to every 1 slow driver. And the slow driver isn't always old.
Also, piling on... there is a lot of benefits to robotic delivery.
Imagine long range trucking where the vehicle didn't need a driver and wasn't subject to driving limits. It would make trucking a lot more competitive against trains.
Funny joke but most senior citizens are better than average drivers with increasingly lower accident rates until they are over 75.
Here's the fatal accident rate per 100,000 drivers. Notice that after 75, senior drivers revert to being as dangerous as 34-44 year olds but are still not as dangerous as 25-34 year olds and younger.
16 years old 76 17 years old 73 18 years old 78 19 years old 68
19 years old and under 78 20 years old 64 21 years old 66 22 years old 63 23 years old 52 24 years old 44
20 to 24 years old 57 25 to 34 years old 34 35 to 44 years old 29 45 to 54 years old 23 55 to 64 years old 21 65 to 74 years old 19 75 years old and over 29
The company I was at last eliminated 4,000 sales people by automating order entry for their 2nd and 3rd tier customers.
They pushed all the customers to an amazon type site. In fact, that's what it was called when it was being designed "an amazon type site".
For many customers, the only point of contact was annual sales meetings and the delivery driver.
They were willing to cut out the salesperson to save 1 to 2% on costs.
Only multi million dollar customers had a sales person. A couple billion dollar sales customers had a sales person on site.
Sales people.. lol. Our biggest challenge was the customers were starting to go to the warehouse stores (and Amazon) themselves and buy the product themselves to save as little as 3%.
Its the same reason you walk into a big box store these days and there are no sales people and no customer service.
Any major repair is inspected by the city or county inspector.
So-- sure, you might get a couple pipes fixed or a new pipe run not to code but periodically a major repair or remodel will cause an inspection and then everything has to be be brought up to code.
We know how that ends. In most revolutions, the wealthy die, the middle class dies, anyone that looks at the revolutionary leaders sideways dies, then anyone with the same name as anyone that looked at a leader sideways.
After a lot of people die, things settle down again.
It has to get really bad before people are willing to undergo that. We are no where near that yet in america- but the blase and callous attitudes of the wealthy are on that path.
Slashdot Mirror
It could have four multiple helper arms to assist you. You could read a paper without using your arms. Just avoid having any tragic accidents while wearing them.
People show measurable levels of over a hundred chemical compounds (including rocket fuel) which they didn't have 50 years ago.
My bet is on psuedo estrogens given the symptoms.
Spot on. People ignore selection bias too often.
Or maybe.... I am just more aware of people who ignore selection bias!
That's a good approach for many. However, for the 25% of men who suffer from low testosterone- it's not as effective. Just like women can get gestational diabetes, men can get diabetes from other causes (including low T) and all the dieting and vegetabling in the world won't help.
Likewise, if you come from certain racial backgrounds- the diet approach isn't nearly as effective.
However- a healthy diet is good for other things (heart disease for one- subject to the same limitations of course).
Healthy food doesn't have to taste bad. Herbs and other seasoning goes a long way as does using a variety of cooking methods. Roasting can produce delicious vegetables.
You know.. .in over 35 years of driving- I've never seen anyone driving 20 mph under the speed limit who didn't have hazard lights on because they were having an auto problem of some kind.
Lol, I was going to ask where you lived (and jokingly suggested Florida) but now I see you DO live in Florida.
The data does show that 85+ drivers are as dangerous as 16-19 year olds. And living in florida you have a higher percentage of drivers that old.
I ask because random things do happen. I've been hit three times while my car was stationary. I wasn't at fault.
Each time I was stopped at a red light.
Once, the truck in front of me suddenly put the car into reverse and backed into me at over 10mph. He really gunned it.*
Once the lady behind me suddenly accelerated into me. The light was still red. She mostly mangled her front end on my bike rack and didn't damage my car. Somehow, she'd gotten confused and thought the light had changed. Even tho I and the cars ahead of me weren't moving.*
And once two high school students had an accident over 100' back- one's airbag stunned her and she sailed straight towards me. I saw her coming and managed to get the car up to 10mph and tried to get out of their but didn't make it. Totaled my car.
I stop at red lights behind the white lines and stop where I can see the bottom of the tires of the car ahead of me. But random things just happen.
*These two accidents were in a big dodge durango SUV. But it was a very neutral dove grey. I wonder if the accidents could have been avoided with a brighter color and have stayed in brighter/stronger colors since I sold that car.
And what's the latest date you see A.I. that is conscious and self aware in the human and animal sense?
Look, if you want a population we can agree on- people 85 and older have as a group a higher accident, injurious, and fatal accident rate.
While they are individuals and some still drive very well, as a group, they don't do that well on freeways.
70-74 year olds are slightly less risky than 25-29 year olds and slightly more risky that 30-65 year olds.
75-79 year olds are similar in risk to 20-24 year olds but with less fatal accidents.
80+ are less risky than 16-19 year olds and slightly more risky than 20-24 year olds (12 accidents per million miles vs 10 accidents per million miles, ~4.5 injurious accidents vs ~4.0 accidents, and about the same (~2.5 vs ~2.8) fatal accidents.
This is true both per 100,000 licensed driver and per 1,000,000 miles driven.
"More risky" is not the same as "dangerous". Especially not "slightly more risky".
BTW, the rates are very similar per million miles driven as well.
Look elsewhere in this thread for that data.
Any argument for restricting elderly driving really fails for ages all the way up to 79-80.
They drive as safely as 19 year olds til then. If you only consider accidents resulting in fatalities or injuries, 79-80 year old drivers are still safer than 19 year olds at that point.
I remember my grandpa had one car accident at 61. He accelerated into a wall instead of braking in the last few seconds of parking. No one was hurt except the wall and his bumper.
I know (and have known a lot of) people who are 30-55 and who get in a lot of accidents and are often not at fault. One of them specifically told his wife recently that he won't follow at a correct distance because other people will change lanes into the open space.
When someone starts tailgating, you need to slow down to account for their stopping distance (drivers ed training).
Also keep in mind that accidents have a random component. Does your aunt average 3 accidents a year? And how old is she? Did she also get in a lot of accidents when she was younger or has the rate increased sharply? You sort of imply she's had these driving habits for a long time.
Individuals of any age may have or develop particular problems or driving habits which make them unsafe drivers.
How much did you want to bet?
From my post below:
The results are surprisingly similar for the rate per million miles driven as well.
It's not until age 79 and 80 that senior involvement in accidents and fatal accidents increases to that of 18 year olds.
70-74 year olds have essentially the same total accident rate, fatal accident rate, and injurious accident rate as 25-29 year olds at about 6t/2i/1f accidents per million miles driven.
Their record is better than 16-24 year olds.
---
Look, if you want to say older people are not as safe as 34-44 year olds- you have my complete agreement. But we both know you are not arguing that only 34-44 year olds should be allowed to drive. And 34-44 year olds are only marginally safer than 25-29 year olds. All drivers from 30 to 65 are in the sweet spot with regard to accidents running about 5 accidents per million miles.
When you only consider fatal or injurious accidents- the rate per mile for even the extreme elderly is below that of 16-19 year olds.
Again- I put about 20,000 miles a year on my car and I *rarely* encounter these "old" people who are so dangerous or driving below the speed limit. I do encounter people who are driving the speed limit. They are not all old.
Per 15 miles I drive on the freeway, I encounter several tail gaters, several people making reckless lane changes, and a couple people going 20mph over the speed limit and 10mph more than traffic around them. I encounter 3-5 people who run red lights each week. I've seen some horrific T-Bone accidents over the last few years. Not one of them has involved a senior.
The parent poster was engaging in blatant age discrimination.
---
I wish they gave tickets for tailgating. It would prevent a lot of accidents. I wish they still enforced the rules of the road too. Today the police seem focused on speed traps at the end of the month and that's it.
I agree. However, the avalanche has started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.
I'm not confusing sales people with true scotsman.
I'm speaking from experience of what is actually happening out there.
Sales jobs are declining. Median and average compensation for sales jobs is not keeping up with inflation and in many cases is being cut in real terms.
As I said, once you reach million dollar purchases from a company- you justify a sales person. If you are only buying a few hundred thousand dollars of product, it more cost effective for them to route you into an automated solution.
But where I was- million dollar sales were not even enough- you had to have multi-million dollar sales or you were sent to automated order entry.
Look- perhaps things are better in your area- I'm just saying what the reality is in my neck of the woods.
The results are surprisingly similar for the rate per million miles driven as well.
It's not until age 79 and 80 that senior involvement in accidents and fatal accidents increases to that of 18 year olds.
70-74 year olds have essentially the same total accident rate, fatal accident rate, and injurious accident rate as 25-29 year olds per million miles driven.
The parent poster's statement just struck me as blatant age discrimination. It's apparent from the data (both per licensed driver and per mile driven) that it was.
He was ignoring the timber in his own eye while pointing out the speck in other's eyes.
For each age, it's the number per 100,000 licensed drivers.
It's not until ages 79 and 80+ that accident rates (fatal and non-fatal) increase to age 18 levels.
93%+ of anyone born 1971 and sooner is projected to be dead by age 82.
98.4% are dead by age 90.
Tailgating, reckless driving, and poor driving skills cause accidents.
The rate at which old people (70-74) are involved accidents PER mile is similar to the rate which 20-24 year olds are involved in accidents. The rate at which old people cause fatal accidents PER mile is lower than 20-24 year olds.
Stop living in denial. Driving less than a car length per 10 mph behind someone, texting, speeding 20mph faster than the traffic around you, aggressive reckless driving. These cause accidents and these behaviors are much more common among the young.
Just about everyone I know has a story of some car passing them at 20mph over the speed limit and scaring the hell out of them and then seeing the likely fatal accident a couple miles down the road.
I've see them about once a decade.
Considering all police-reported accidents, teenage drivers had 3.3 times the overall risk, and the oldest drivers had 2.0 times the overall risk per mile.
For 70-74 year old drivers the risk per mile of all accidents is similar to 20-24 year old drivers. The risk of fatal accidents is lower.
ANALYSIS OF ACCIDENT RATES BY AGE, GENDER, AND TIME OF DAY BASED ON THE 1990 NATIONWIDE PERSONAL TRANSPORTATION SURVEY Dawn L. Massie and Kenneth L. Campbell
---
You know-- I just never see 70 year olds weaving back and forth in traffic, cutting people off, passing within 2' of other cars at speeds over 80mph. I also never see 70 year olds speeding 20mph faster than the rest of traffic around them.
Seriously- never happens. And I put 20,000 miles a year on my car on a mixture of highways and city streets.
At the still spritely age of 53, my experience is that accidents are caused mostly by tailgating, reckless driving (including driving like it's not raining or snowing), aggressive driving, and poorly maintained vehicles.
Tailgating is a huge cause of accidents. I've seen people tailgating at 10 mph over the speed limit in the SLOW lane. And they were not on autopilot either.
But here... how about a list from the industry..
Top 10 Causes of Accidents.
1. Speeding While Driving and Reckless Driving: Failing to follow the speed limit is the most common cause of traffic accidents in the United States.
2. Use of Mobile Phone â" Texting While Driving: The proliferation of mobile phone use has resulted an increased level of danger on our roads. In response national and state legislatures have passed strict anti texting laws; while the judicial system has begun to charge individuals whoâ(TM)s texting while driving resulted in deaths, with manslaughter.
3. Other forms of Distracted Driving - There are numerous types of distracted driving. Some of the most common types of distractions resulting in high incidences of traffic accidents include, eating, smoking, listening to loud music or changing the dial, reaching for objects in the vehicle, and looking or talking with other passengers in the vehicle.
4. Driver Fatigue â" Falling Asleep in the Wheel â" According to recently published data driver fatigue is the cause of 2.5-3.0 percent of all roadway related fatalities in the United States. Individual that have a history of falling asleep at the wheel may be prosecuted for a criminal offense.
5. Drunk Driving â" and Driving While Under the Influence of a Narcotic Substance: According to studies driving while under the influence of alcohol results in a 900% increase in the probability of an auto accident.
6. Rubber-necking â" Rubbernecking is another type of distracted driving and takes place when drivers look other things on the road not linked to their driving. Examples include watching other accidents, looking at sunsets, and nice views.
7. Defective Automobile and Automobile Parts â" Common auto defects that can cause severe injuries to occupants include, tire defects, defective design of Sport Inutility Vehicles resulted in vehicles being more prone to rollovers, seatbelt defects and defective airbags.
8. Defects on Roadway Construction â" The improper design of roadways result in hundreds of auto accident fatalities each year. Liable parties can include CALTRANS and construction contractors for improper installment of traffic lights and roadway signals.
9. Poor Weather Conditions â" Example of weather condition posing the greatest dangers to motorists on the road includes, icy roads, high winds, and rain after a prolonged drought resulting in oily surfaces.
10. Improper Coning off of Construction Zones â" Road work is needed to maintain and built the countries transportation infrastructure. However in many cases road construction crews fail to safely cordon off construction zones resulting in an increased probability of auto accidents.
---
Given a choice between the young Ninja driver swooping back and forth in traffic, the monster truck person tail gating so close you can count the bugs on their grill, or an older person driving 5-10mph below the speed limit-- I'll take the old person every day. All I have to do is wait for a safe opportunity, turn on my signal and pass.
However this is VERY rare in my experience.
Crazy frightening reckless aggressive drivers are very common. I encounter 50 of them to every 1 slow driver. And the slow driver isn't always old.
Also, piling on... there is a lot of benefits to robotic delivery.
Imagine long range trucking where the vehicle didn't need a driver and wasn't subject to driving limits. It would make trucking a lot more competitive against trains.
Funny joke but most senior citizens are better than average drivers with increasingly lower accident rates until they are over 75.
Here's the fatal accident rate per 100,000 drivers. Notice that after 75, senior drivers revert to being as dangerous as 34-44 year olds but are still not as dangerous as 25-34 year olds and younger.
16 years old 76
17 years old 73
18 years old 78
19 years old 68
19 years old and under 78
20 years old 64
21 years old 66
22 years old 63
23 years old 52
24 years old 44
20 to 24 years old 57
25 to 34 years old 34
35 to 44 years old 29
45 to 54 years old 23
55 to 64 years old 21
65 to 74 years old 19
75 years old and over 29
The company I was at last eliminated 4,000 sales people by automating order entry for their 2nd and 3rd tier customers.
They pushed all the customers to an amazon type site. In fact, that's what it was called when it was being designed "an amazon type site".
For many customers, the only point of contact was annual sales meetings and the delivery driver.
They were willing to cut out the salesperson to save 1 to 2% on costs.
Only multi million dollar customers had a sales person. A couple billion dollar sales customers had a sales person on site.
Sales people.. lol. Our biggest challenge was the customers were starting to go to the warehouse stores (and Amazon) themselves and buy the product themselves to save as little as 3%.
Its the same reason you walk into a big box store these days and there are no sales people and no customer service.
Any major repair is inspected by the city or county inspector.
So-- sure, you might get a couple pipes fixed or a new pipe run not to code but periodically a major repair or remodel will cause an inspection and then everything has to be be brought up to code.
We know how that ends. In most revolutions, the wealthy die, the middle class dies, anyone that looks at the revolutionary leaders sideways dies, then anyone with the same name as anyone that looked at a leader sideways.
After a lot of people die, things settle down again.
It has to get really bad before people are willing to undergo that. We are no where near that yet in america- but the blase and callous attitudes of the wealthy are on that path.
Amazon has no salespeople to speak of.
Salespeople to individuals are going away. Every business wants to automate the process.
Sales people to other large businesses will probably make it a while longer.