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Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

theatlantic.com

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Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#91

Post by hkt »

stevenwoo wrote: post #87
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, what!? In Europe if you strike a pedestrian on the crosswalk you'll definitely loose your license and be looking at manslaughter charges too while your insurance company will murder you after paying the victim's medical/disability/court bills.

It's like the article states - it's actually unusual for a non drunk driver in America to face charges when in any incident with a bicyclist or pedestrian even with a death unless there is a LEO watching or LEO victim. It's a common topic on blogs about cycling in the USA.

What's LEO?

Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#92

Post by dannyw »

em-bee wrote: post #30

living in a big city in europe i was able to live without a car easily, but when i got a job in the US i fully expected that i'd have to learn to drive and get a car to get around. BUT, i managed to get an apartment 10 minutes walking from the office. this was in san diego, of all places, a city which is very spread out. a few months later i moved in with friends and we found a place far north. most of my roommates h…

Now try going carless in Montana :)

Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#93

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

hkt wrote: post #91
stevenwoo wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like the article states - it's actually unusual for a non drunk driver in America to face charges when in any incident with a bicyclist or pedestrian even with a death unless there is a LEO watching or LEO victim. It's a common topic on blogs about cycling in the USA.

What's LEO?

Law Enforcement Officer

Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#94

Post by [deleted] »

hkt wrote: post #91
stevenwoo wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like the article states - it's actually unusual for a non drunk driver in America to face charges when in any incident with a bicyclist or pedestrian even with a death unless there is a LEO watching or LEO victim. It's a common topic on blogs about cycling in the USA.

What's LEO?

[deleted]

Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#95

Post by [deleted] »

hkt wrote: post #91
stevenwoo wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like the article states - it's actually unusual for a non drunk driver in America to face charges when in any incident with a bicyclist or pedestrian even with a death unless there is a LEO watching or LEO victim. It's a common topic on blogs about cycling in the USA.

What's LEO?

[deleted]

Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#96

Post by PaulHoule »

The "car-tel" didn't just make a legal victory, it made a political victory.

It's nearly forgotten how much anger and resentment that Americans had against the railroad companies back in the day. Back then, railroads could decide if they would build a stop at your town, or even decide to build a new town on land that they owned somewhere along the line. Railroads were perceived as a vast private taking from the commons.

The car on the other hand involves public ownership of the roads and distributed ownership of the vehicles. That leaves a strong majority of the population feeling that the status quo benefits them and encourages them to keep it that way.

Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#97

Post by artofcode »

hkt wrote: post #91
stevenwoo wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like the article states - it's actually unusual for a non drunk driver in America to face charges when in any incident with a bicyclist or pedestrian even with a death unless there is a LEO watching or LEO victim. It's a common topic on blogs about cycling in the USA.

What's LEO?

Law Enforcement Officer

Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#98

Post by dannyw »

kd5bjo wrote: post #37
megablast wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Malls are usually surrounded by a huge carpark.

So are suburban train stations. It’s the natural byproduct of places where people change their mode of transport from cars to something else. Malls are one of the only high-density land uses that people in the suburbs accept, and the surrounding carpark is a necessary buffer between the low- and high-density development. I contend the problem isn’t with the mall itself, but with the low-density development surroundin…

Absolutely not. In Sydney, we have malls with their own suburban train stations (eg Macquarie Centre), and bus interchanges.

The vast majority of people get there by public transport, not driving.

Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#99

Post by chronolitus »

unwrap wrote: post #73
chronolitus wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me float you a hypothetical situation: you're in command of a few tons of steel, and your priority is to get to some arbitrary location. Your second priority, I assume, is to not murder anyone. Here's what you know about the environment : it is populated with (harmless fleshly) people who are also going about fulfilling goals 1 and 2. You know with high probability that at any given moment one might quickly cross…

I see no point in wasting words seeing how differing viewpoints are received here. Somebody has even bothered to go over my comment history and downvote everything. I think you'd see it in a very different light if you were living here. I am honestly very worried for my friends and relatives who drive, most of whom do it very, very carefully, and still they have yearly encounters with adults who behave like feeble-mi…

> I see no point in wasting words seeing how differing viewpoints are received here. Somebody has even bothered to go over my comment history and downvote everything.

I understand how you feel. However if you are right and I am wrong - then your words are not wasted, even if they are not well received, as long as they are read.

> and still they have yearly encounters with adults who behave like feeble-minded children

I guess our road safety practices and status-quo should not bother to extend as far as guaranteeing the well-being of the feeble-minded. Children playing in the street are fair-game.

To be fair, I understand that your viewpoint is economically efficient, to an extent. I can accept that favoring cars has significant economic benefits, and I understand why society has done it at the expense of quality-of-life at the ground level (children shouldn't play in the street, the area around your appartment/house is not for you to enjoy but for commuting strangers, etc), and personal safety.

But is it really necessary to hold on to this so dearly and for so long? Especially when other cities/countries have shown that alternatives are possible and attractive?

Re: Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives

#100

Post by p_l »

lukeqsee wrote: post #85
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, what!? In Europe if you strike a pedestrian on the crosswalk you'll definitely loose your license and be looking at manslaughter charges too while your insurance company will murder you after paying the victim's medical/disability/court bills.

In Europe, if you strike a pedestrian outside a crosswalk, the same might happen to you depending on the jurisdiction. Pedestrians create their own right of way, practically speaking (if not judicially). :-)

Depends on country, but even then I think "limited trust" is the approach expected from drivers.
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