121–130 of 345 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's more you trade sets of respects and disrespects. Small towns are great as long as you conform to a narrow set of socially conservative expectations. The south isn't all bad, but the bad escalates faster than in other places the further you are from a major highway.
Definitely agree with this sentiment. My perspective on receiving more respect in the South probably has a lot to do with being a redneck looking white guy.
Regardless of how badly designed roads in America are and have been for decades, what I have noticed during the pandemic is that antisocial selfishness has become a valid way to behave, so people no longer attempt to suppress their antisocial selfish tendencies. I believe this was already in motion under Trump. He himself exemplifies antisocial selfish behavior. It's his entire gimmick. His election and his words/act…
> it seems a bit like we are regressing as a society to animal kingdom behavior Hey, on behalf of my animal brethren, I resent that! ;-) Seriously, while nature can seem cruel --- red in tooth and claw --- there also exists in nature a definite "politeness", i.e. the context for aggression is well defined (for example, predator-prey, maintenance and challenge of group hierarchy, defense of territory) and outside of t…
While this driver appears to be facing homicide by vehicle charges in addition to fleeing the scene, it is very common in the US for a driver to kill a pedestrian and face no criminal charges or loss of driving privileges as long as they stop and dial 911. While out walking I often think of a quote from a Freakomomics podcast that goes something like 'the best way to get away will killing someone in the US is to hit…
Good acceleration makes driving safer, because taking over other cars takes less time (although 40-60 acceleration time matters more here).
Also, "sports" cars, designed for high speeds usually have better suspension, braking, tires, all of which make them safer again.
Cars are just tools, you cannot blame them for recklessness of some drivers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How exactly did you get to “the cause of reckless driving is fat people who don’t walk everywhere?” Show your work. In most places in America walking is not a practical mode of transportation because of distance; it’s miles from your house to the grocery store, for instance. If you live in a city this might not be obvious to you but half the country lives in the burbs or rural areas. Separately, it would be nice if w…
> it would be nice if we had more sidewalks, but they are financially unsustainable "No way of preventing this, says person in only country where "this" happens."
In Austin Texas we have an absurdly well marked crosswalk on the way to the elementary school, to a close approximation nobody has ever stopped to let us cross. Our daughter was nearly killed once, so far. It seems so many people in America are so fat now they don’t imagine people would ever walk, so they drive without regard for pedestrians and active hostility towards cyclists and park in the way of sidewalks, maki…
What if poor US urban planning has led to sedentary lives where walking to places like grocery stores, parks, or transit is unpleasant, inconvenient, or impossible.
So we sit on our butts and drive our cars everywhere, which means more lanes and more parking lots which in return keeps things farther apart and less walkable.
People who are never pedestrians perhaps have reduced empathy for being one, and being in a big metal car vs passing in-person on the street leads to less personable reactions (ie road rage). And car-focused infrastructure decisions lead to more dangerous interactions between fast traffic, pedestrians, and cyclists.
The tiny bit of time I have spent in some dense european-style walkable neighborhoods left me feeling much more a part of the neighborhood and like I would be a much healthier person in general living in such a place long term.
In Austin Texas we have an absurdly well marked crosswalk on the way to the elementary school, to a close approximation nobody has ever stopped to let us cross. Our daughter was nearly killed once, so far. It seems so many people in America are so fat now they don’t imagine people would ever walk, so they drive without regard for pedestrians and active hostility towards cyclists and park in the way of sidewalks, maki…
How exactly did you get to “the cause of reckless driving is fat people who don’t walk everywhere?” Show your work. In most places in America walking is not a practical mode of transportation because of distance; it’s miles from your house to the grocery store, for instance. If you live in a city this might not be obvious to you but half the country lives in the burbs or rural areas. Separately, it would be nice if w…
Let's change this to a proactive mode.
How far is too far to walk or cycle?
What would it take for you to increase that distance?
While this driver appears to be facing homicide by vehicle charges in addition to fleeing the scene, it is very common in the US for a driver to kill a pedestrian and face no criminal charges or loss of driving privileges as long as they stop and dial 911. While out walking I often think of a quote from a Freakomomics podcast that goes something like 'the best way to get away will killing someone in the US is to hit…
It's amazing we don't have more deaths. And disgusting we don't do better at designing safe roadway for all people.
In Austin Texas we have an absurdly well marked crosswalk on the way to the elementary school, to a close approximation nobody has ever stopped to let us cross. Our daughter was nearly killed once, so far. It seems so many people in America are so fat now they don’t imagine people would ever walk, so they drive without regard for pedestrians and active hostility towards cyclists and park in the way of sidewalks, maki…
Someone in Indiana honked at me for using a crosswalk yesterday thinking I was supposed to yield to them for some reason. I think people from rural areas and suburbs just aren’t used to driving in smaller streets.
While this driver appears to be facing homicide by vehicle charges in addition to fleeing the scene, it is very common in the US for a driver to kill a pedestrian and face no criminal charges or loss of driving privileges as long as they stop and dial 911. While out walking I often think of a quote from a Freakomomics podcast that goes something like 'the best way to get away will killing someone in the US is to hit…
Yea, but almost none of those things have changed in the last two year - so does nothing to explain the spike in the last two years.
What has changed in the last two years? Police being told not to police, not to pull people over for minor infractions, police departments being defunded or having their budget's cut - or being threatened with being defunded or having their budgets cut. Can't have to both way folks - like it not, the threat of being ticketed, towed or arrested has an effect on many peoples driving habits.
In Austin Texas we have an absurdly well marked crosswalk on the way to the elementary school, to a close approximation nobody has ever stopped to let us cross. Our daughter was nearly killed once, so far. It seems so many people in America are so fat now they don’t imagine people would ever walk, so they drive without regard for pedestrians and active hostility towards cyclists and park in the way of sidewalks, maki…
In Toronto there are paid people with fluorescent traffic warden clothes and signage who attend all crosswalks and traffic light for the student travel periods, AM, Noon, PM. Other times they have walk buttons that start flashing lights and an overhead banner (flasher lighted)
The only thing that will slow drivers down is when they feel unsafe themselves, or have a risk to their vehicle.
Adding signs or automatic fines doesn't do anything. You need narrower streets utilizing actual traffic calling techniques. It's such a sad sight to see signs with a "traffic calming zone" sign, but absolutely zero traffic calming done. It'll be a wide open street, we'll paved, no trees right against the road or bollards in the middle or speed bumps.
Watching this video feels like an alternative reality that never happened and it seems great.