Earlier quoted context omitted.
The nice thing is there's an even better way of decreasing crash fatalities. Just decrease the amount of driving.
Sure and we can fix computer security by confiscating all computers. Not much of a realistic fix, is it?
If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
331–340 of 713 posts
Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
#332Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I was in far more danger of getting injured by them than any vehicle, and this was Manhattan traffic. Sorry but the stats just don't bear this out. I've lived in dense cities my entire life. Stories, anecdotes, etc. do not reflect the reality of what is more likely to cause you harm.
Statistics are not a good indicator either because most events never get recorded. Nobody keeps statistics on how often cyclists whiz within inches of pedestrians on the sidewalk, scrape by people, or knock people over but they get right back up again with a few bruises. It doesn't get recorded unless the police get involved or somebody goes to the hospital, both of which are pretty rare. Believing you understand wha…
> both of which are pretty rare
so what you're saying is that people don't really get injured by bikes, they just get a bit rattled.
Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
#333Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cyclists in NYC are positive menace. They don’t need to be but they choose go the wrong way down one way streets, routinely ignore all traffic signals, ride on busy sidewalks and eschew bike lanes to weave in and out of heavy traffic. Well under 50% wear helmets. As a pedestrian in NYC I feel far more endangered by bikes than I do by automobiles. There is room for cyclists, but there has got to be some compliance wit…
>As a pedestrian in NYC I feel far more endangered by bikes than I do by automobiles. This is why legislating by "feelings" is a bad idea. Automobiles are a far larger and more lethal risk.
> Automobiles are a far larger and more lethal risk.
even when normalized by passenger miles?
In general cars are quite lethal in aggregate but not once normalized for usage-- we drive an awful lot.
Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
#334I moved from Spain to the US, and I often find myself trying to explain to people back home just how miserable and even humiliating the pedestrian experience is here. Here are some other examples of things that I think contribute to the hostile walking experience in the US: * Cars parked in short driveways often extend all the way across the sidewalk. Even if you can easily step off onto the road to walk around them…
"Often refuse to serve you" means that they sometimes do? I tried to go through a drive-thru on a bicycle in Czechia and they told me to fuck off.
Yeah, I've had decent luck walking thru in Los Angeles. Some places will turn you away but some don't care.
Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
#335Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every time a politician anywhere in the world suggests adding more freeways or more lanes to freeways, I think they should be forced to live in LA for a year and do a ~1 hour commute each way in traffic. They need to see first hand what happens when you just add more freeways and more lanes. It's not good.
I'd say split it half and half, 6 months LA to learn the pain of the wrong way, then 6 months in a place with proper transit like Amsterdam or Seoul, then they come back with a vision of what could be.
LA is by no means the worst that America has to offer. At least within a 1 hour radius you have a staggering population and amount of commerce available. People visiting LA from "average" places in the U.S. will note that it's really dense, about as dense as the outer boroughs of New York City. If it's "sprawling" it is not because it is uneconomical in the use of space but because the whole area that is habitable is crammed with people.
In Southern New Hampshire people drive almost as far although there is hardly anything to drive to. The confluence of Route 101 and I-93 south of Manchester is as bad as anything you'll find in a city 100 times Manchester's size leaving the question of where the hell all these cars are coming from and where they are going.
(The answer is that the population is dispersed over a large area with a hierarchical road network that, as much as possible, wants to be like your lungs. Thus you always get stuck in traffic at several bottlenecks on your drive that you can't avoid.)
Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
#336This lens is underutilized in the discourse, but people feel it acutely. Even a lot of the anti-cycling stance comes down to, “What am I, poor?” When you are using transportation infrastructure that’s designed with contempt for you, you know, and you don’t want to be there. See also: rail slow zones, buses that shimmy and rattle violently on imperfect pavement, how Muni trains close their doors and pull one foot out…
> Even a lot of the anti-cycling stance comes down to, “What am I, poor?” When you are using transportation infrastructure that’s designed with contempt for you, you know, and you don’t want to be there. I grew up in close contact with a large urban poor population and I think the view of bikes was the exact opposite of this. Biking in the city is considered the purview of affluent white people
I ride my carbon fiber road bike down the bike trail in the morning; when I drive home after a night of entertainment, I see laborers riding their bikes in the busy street to get home after a long day of work. I feel the irony deeply.
We should improve society somewhat.
Yet you participate in society.Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
#337This lens is underutilized in the discourse, but people feel it acutely. Even a lot of the anti-cycling stance comes down to, “What am I, poor?” When you are using transportation infrastructure that’s designed with contempt for you, you know, and you don’t want to be there. See also: rail slow zones, buses that shimmy and rattle violently on imperfect pavement, how Muni trains close their doors and pull one foot out…
I have a pretty strong anti-cycling stance, because I watched my New York neighborhood that was a pedestrian paradise significantly degraded by bike lanes. The balance of walking, subways, busses, taxis and delivery trucks had worked pretty well. Bicyclists introduced the concept of failing to yield, then acting indignant and entitled.
I'm impressed that being indignant and entitled wasn't a part of your neighborhood before the cyclists came in. Really does sound like paradise!
Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
#338Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a pretty strong anti-cycling stance, because I watched my New York neighborhood that was a pedestrian paradise significantly degraded by bike lanes. The balance of walking, subways, busses, taxis and delivery trucks had worked pretty well. Bicyclists introduced the concept of failing to yield, then acting indignant and entitled.
Louis Rossmann talked about cyclists not respecting pedestrians yesterday [0]. [0] NYC's toxic ebike culture almost killed 4 people; let's talk about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrtLWilSoNI
Meanwhile hundreds of people per year are being killed by NYC's toxic car culture. It would be interesting to see a per-mile comparison, but ebikes are looking a helluva lot safer by comparison.
Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
#339Earlier quoted context omitted.
The nice thing is there's an even better way of decreasing crash fatalities. Just decrease the amount of driving.
Sure and we can fix computer security by confiscating all computers. Not much of a realistic fix, is it?
Decrease, not eliminate. Even for computers. Do light bulbs really need computers? If not, why increase my network’s attack surface area?
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191023075139.h...
Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity
#340Earlier quoted context omitted.
One problem in the United States is that transportation planners apparently think that buses are for the poor and people won’t ride them. Instead they want to build expensive light rail or subway when a good bus system would be much better, flexible, and affordable.
Curious what would be a good bus system? I've only ever lived in the US and can honestly say I've never seen one.
I was pleasantly surprised at San Antonio's bus system. They were everywhere downtown, frequent, and even had lines that go about an hour out of the city.
I was only there as a tourist though, I don't know how well they'd be for day-to-day life and cross-town trips.
In other cities where I have used buses regularly, I've found them to suffer a bit from limited routes, transfers, it taking 2 hours to get anywhere, and then buses stop running too early at night.