How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”
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Re: How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”
#2Sure, they were pro-active about it, but let's face it: It was going to happen anyhow. This just accelerated things.
Re: How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”
#3Sure, they were pro-active about it, but let's face it: It was going to happen anyhow. This just accelerated things.
We live in only one possible future.
Re: How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”
#4What i would like to know is did it actually reduce deaths?
Re: How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”
#5Sure, they were pro-active about it, but let's face it: It was going to happen anyhow. This just accelerated things.
Well, we could be living in a situation where pedestrians take precedence and have right of way over cars in city streets, and the opposite in highways, which I think would be much more desirable, especially in crowded cities. Perhaps even ban cars except for abutters, commercial vehicles and emergency vehicles from the densest city center areas. God that would be a relief.
edit: OK, yes, obviously you can and should distinguish between streets and roads, the former being smaller and mainly for residents and visitors of a subsector of the area (who can play hacky-sack on their residential street if they so well please, and you still have to wait for them), and the latter being mainly for car transportation in and out of the area itself. You can prioritize humans in one and cars in the other.
Re: How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”
#6What i would like to know is did it actually reduce deaths?
As a percentage of "miles traveled by car"? Absolutely.
Re: How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”
#7There was another Vox episode mentioning how manufacturers also heavily influenced our views on littering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxKfpt70rLI
Suddenly that ecologically unsound packaging was no longer their problem; disposing of it properly was the consumer and the government's shared responsibility.
Re: How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”
#8Sure, they were pro-active about it, but let's face it: It was going to happen anyhow. This just accelerated things.
I thought jaywalking is only a thing in the US? I'm not sure who's less informed, you or me, I have no idea about the prevalence of the idea in other countries.
It's not a crime to "jaywalk" in the UK, and I quote it as the concept simply doesn't exist here.
Also, in the UK, if you are crossing a side street and a car wants to turn into it, officially speaking, the pedestrian has the right of way[1].
[1]https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-road-...
Edit: Seems it's a real mix, some there are none, others have it, some have it but it's never enforced and some countries have laws that only apply within a certain distance of designated crossings:
Re: How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”
#9Sure, they were pro-active about it, but let's face it: It was going to happen anyhow. This just accelerated things.
Well, we could be living in a situation where pedestrians take precedence and have right of way over cars in city streets, and the opposite in highways, which I think would be much more desirable, especially in crowded cities. Perhaps even ban cars except for abutters, commercial vehicles and emergency vehicles from the densest city center areas. God that would be a relief. edit: OK, yes, obviously you can and should…
It's already true in many places, in a lot of European cities you see a sign like this when entering:
https://lsmlomza.pl/pliki/2014/03/lsm-znak1.jpg
And it basically means that pedestrians have an absolute priority before cars, they can walk on the street as much as they like and you as a driver have to exhibit some extreme attention because if anything happens, it's 99% certain you will be found at fault.