One of my biggest gripes about driving in America is the signage and foliage that obstructs peripheral vision. I got T-boned by someone that blatantly ran a red light because a store sign close to the sidewalk blocked my vision. I had no way to see that the car was coming at a rate that would clearly blow through the intersection until I was already in the intersection after the light turned green. My other gripe is that the laws we actually have on the books don’t get enforced. Speeding everywhere. Final gripe involves the lack of sidewalks or safe ways for pedestrians to cross roads that operate at higher speeds. Had a friend that got hit and die in my arms after crossing in the crosswalk, when they clearly had the right of way, by someone that accelerated to run a red left hand turn signal. On top of this the pedestrian safe to walk lights in that intersection don’t give you nearly enough time to actually cross 6 lanes of traffic and allow rights on red. The intersection/road I speak of has seen multiple pedestrian deaths over the course of decades.
- Work with urban planners to build safer roads.
- Make drivers licenses a privilege, not a right.
1 costs money, and 2 is politically challenging and costs money in several ways.
About 20% of drivers in the US are unlicensed. Car dependency means you can revoke someone’s licences all you like and they’ll still drive anyway (because they need to).
Your #1, urban planning with viable car alternatives, is necessary to make driving a privilege again. Until then people will drive, legally or otherwise.
sure a few lives will be saved, but millions would be late to work!
That reminds me of a project that a city in i think Norway started. In winter, clear the sidewalks, bike lanes, and side streets first.
The drop in hospital visits saved them billions, as slip and fall injuries plummeted (walking kids to school) and people just went to work a little later or worked from home if weather was a concern.
Swede here, you may be referring to Stockholm, the politicians called the scheme “feminist snow clearing”, which caused a lot of negativity toward the scheme…
On the whole, it absolutely makes sense, they kept it up for several winters but dropped the name.
That’s the one. The feminist angle brought an interesting approach but ultimately the branding was a challenge for people.
What was the inspiration for that name?
Most car drivers in the city are men, most women walk on the sidewalk
Weird how anytime we deprioritize profits under almost anything, it results in improved quality of life.
I realize you’re making a joke, but it’s a false dichotomy.
It’s not one or the other. We absolutely can, and should, move people around to where they need to go both safely and on schedule.
I’m sure we could but it sounds hard as fuck, and I’m late for work.
Well, that featured image shows why my field of vision shrinks dramatically when I approach an intersection without bulbus sidewalks and random trees. /s
What in the world. Haha!
I think it is more depicting where people pay attention to.
Oh! Thanks, I missed that too. 😅