We write loads about pedestrian security right here, and it’s not as a result of we hate automobiles. It’s as a result of we usually imagine that killing individuals is unhealthy, and it doesn’t in some way turn out to be much less unhealthy in case you kill somebody together with your automobile as an alternative of a gun. Also, we need to reside in a world the place you’ll be able to cross the road with out having to fret that you just’re going to die.
Unfortunately, we reside within the U.S., a rustic that doesn’t care how many individuals drivers kill yearly, and any time somebody will get hit, the blame is inevitably shifted away from the motive force as a result of how dare somebody be exterior of a automobile in a spot the place a driver may be capable of hit them. Add in our love of huge vehicles and SUVs, and it’s no surprise that highway deaths on this nation proceed to worsen yearly.
And sure, the kind of autos on the highway completely issues. It’s going to harm in case you get hit by a Corvette doing 35 mph, however it’s going to harm an entire lot extra in case you get hit by a Ram TRX going the identical pace. Additionally, there’s little or no probability that you just’ll be thrown below the Corvette when it hits you, whereas, with the TRX, there’s an excellent probability you’ll get thrown to the grown and run over.
But how will we realistically begin turning issues round? It can be nice to have the ability to magically remodel each U.S. city and metropolis right into a extremely walkable space with nice bike infrastructure and no have to drive, however very like the second-generation Tesla Roadster, magic isn’t actual. Are we simply caught with an increasing number of individuals dying within the streets yearly? Not essentially.
Recently, Ars Technica printed an article by Kevin J. Krizek, a professor of sustainable planning and concrete design on the University of Colorado, centered on answering precisely that query. One necessary level is that pedestrian-friendly, well-designed cities similar to Amsterdam and Copenhagen haven’t at all times been that method simply because they’re previous. They responded to grassroots actions that pressured metropolis officers to make modifications for the higher. Today, many areas of these cities look nothing like they did within the Seventies.
Large-scale change is tough and takes time, however there are additionally plenty of issues that native governments can do to discourage the usage of huge autos and promote pedestrian security:
- Creating prioritized parking areas nearer to shops for all types of mobility which are slim or lower than 8 toes (2.5 meters) lengthy.
- Using posts or bollards, which will be detachable, to restrict car entry to business areas and neighborhoods the place pedestrians, bikes, and smaller automobiles get precedence.
- Radically narrowing journey lanes on streets to pressure site visitors to decelerate and unencumber area for wider sidewalks and bike lanes.
- Limiting or ending car entry to streets close to colleges and economically vibrant business districts, both completely or at high-use occasions of day.
Would such modifications make issues much less handy for drivers? Sure. But you realize what’s much more inconvenient? Getting hit by a automobile simply since you dared to cross the road to get to a restaurant.
There’s much more to the article, and we extremely advocate you try the remainder of it right here.
Source: jalopnik.com