How's car culture working out in your fair city?

[hal2kilo]

There's a reason I live in Madrid 9 months a year. America has completely surrendered the public domain to the automobile and everything it entails, and in doing so has created a a landscape that is mostly inhospitable to human life on foot. There's a reason why the most expensive places to live in the US are also the most walkable. At least zoning and minimum parking laws have become more relaxed in the past decade (in some places), but the majority of America is really just subdivisions separated by 6 lane roads with the same 30 stores every 3 miles. Everywhere looks the same.

I see almost no school kids walking to school, because around here sidewalks seemed to be considered a waste of tax payer money. There's a development adjacent to the elementary school (Green Mountain) and since I walk around the lake of the development sometimes during the school bus pickup times, I know hardly a single kid walks the at most 1/2 mile walk to the school. When I was in Jr. High, you could not get a bus ride to school if you lived closer to the school than a mile and a half. Of course there were like six places in Arlington County (where I grew up), that didn't have sidewalks on at least one side of the road.

 

[Brainonska511]

I see almost no school kids walking to school, because around here sidewalks seemed to be considered a waste of tax payer money. There's a development adjacent to the elementary school (Green Mountain) and since I walk around the lake of the development sometimes during the school bus pickup times, I know hardly a single kid walks the at most 1/2 mile walk to the school. When I was in Jr. High, you could not get a bus ride to school if you lived closer to the school than a mile and a half. Of course there were like six places in Arlington County (where I grew up), that didn't have sidewalks on at least one side of the road.

The way people drive and the way our roads are, walking to school could sadly be one of the most dangerous things a child could do. Also, people are probably irrationally afraid that their child will be kidnapped.

 

[Franz316]

I see almost no school kids walking to school, because around here sidewalks seemed to be considered a waste of tax payer money. There's a development adjacent to the elementary school (Green Mountain) and since I walk around the lake of the development sometimes during the school bus pickup times, I know hardly a single kid walks the at most 1/2 mile walk to the school. When I was in Jr. High, you could not get a bus ride to school if you lived closer to the school than a mile and a half. Of course there were like six places in Arlington County (where I grew up), that didn't have sidewalks on at least one side of the road.

Yeah totally agree. Car centric development robs children of their independence and is ultimately corrosive to creating a healthy community social fabric for everyone. This video covers it pretty well.

 

[MrSquished]

NYC showing what can happen when you even start to realize car culture is fucked up in our cities. And we are still run by cavemen like Eric Adams so it's a fight all the time to get shit done because of all the unevolved folks still running shit. East River crossings by bike - just continuing to trend upwards. Build more infrastructure and they will keep coming. I mean one of the main east river crossings the Queensboro is still a shit show - finally supposed to be getting a bike only path on the one side and a ped only path on the other but it's been delayed again. It's 2024 and it's bonkers how long it's taking for this basic shit. But the people are riding.

 

[IronWing]

Hard to put on a shocked face when one's response is, "yep".


Tucson driver races through fatal crash scene, killed in separate wreck

The driver of a car that raced though an intersection on Tucson’s south side where police were investigating a fatal crash this week was killed minutes later in a separate crash a few blocks away, authorities say.

The first deadly crash happened about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday at East Benson Highway and East Ajo Way, Tucson police said in a news release.

In it, the driver of a 2008 Ford F-150 ran a red light and slammed into a 2014 Honda Accord. The unidentified 51-year-old man driving the truck was killed. The 39-year-old unidentified man driving the Honda was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, police said in the release.

Investigators say the Ford’s driver was speeding before running the red light at Ajo and crashing into the Honda. Investigators noted an odor of alcohol from the Ford’s driver and multiple empty alcoholic beverage containers were scattered across the crash scene, the release said.

As police still were working at the crash scene about 8:45 p.m., a gold 2006 Nissan Sentra raced through, ignoring traffic cones, road flares, crime scene and police vehicles. The Nissan also struck the back of one of the occupied police vehicles before driving away, the release said.

Minutes later, the Nissan crashed into two vehicles at the intersection of South Campbell Avenue and East Drexel Road, police said.

The Nissan driver, an unidentified 36-year-old man was killed. The two other drivers suffered minor injuries, the release said.

The preliminary investigation indicates the Nissan was speeding and did not attempt to stop prior to slamming into the two vehicles, the release said.

The investigation into the crashes continues.

 

[Zorba]

Zooming in:
View attachment 112843
Note the high intensity enforcement zone and the dearth of serious accidents! Note that this stretch of road really is subject to intense traffic law enforcement and it isn't just a couple signs. But… there are almost no pedestrians there anyway as on one side of the road is an airport enclosed in razor wire topped fencing and on the other side are mostly fenced vacant lots or industrial businesses that offer nothing to would be pedestrians. The stretch of road to the west with the bicycle and pedestrian injuries and fatalities is lined with apartment complexes, restaurants, and other consumer oriented businesses. No traffic enforcement zone for you! The stats look great for the enforcement zone so I guess that's a win.

From what I've read, higher enforcement has little impact on resulting risky behaviors. I'm guessing people just don't walk or ride in the area as much.

 

[Zorba]

NYC showing what can happen when you even start to realize car culture is fucked up in our cities. And we are still run by cavemen like Eric Adams so it's a fight all the time to get shit done because of all the unevolved folks still running shit. East River crossings by bike - just continuing to trend upwards. Build more infrastructure and they will keep coming. I mean one of the main east river crossings the Queensboro is still a shit show - finally supposed to be getting a bike only path on the one side and a ped only path on the other but it's been delayed again. It's 2024 and it's bonkers how long it's taking for this basic shit. But the people are riding.

View attachment 112965

That chart is missing the units, 28,108 what? I'm assuming bikes per day?

What is NYC doing about bike parking for private bikes? I'd think having a secure place to store your bike during the work day would be very impactful to how my people would ride to work. Don't want to leave work to find your bike completely stripped.

 

[fskimospy]

That chart is missing the units, 28,108 what? I'm assuming bikes per day?

What is NYC doing about bike parking for private bikes? I'd think having a secure place to store your bike during the work day would be very impactful to how my people would ride to work. Don't want to leave work to find your bike completely stripped.

In my experience most people bring them into the office. Clearly that wouldn't work everywhere but it works at a lot of places.

As far as what NYC should do I think the answer is nothing. We don't need more free government provided storage for private property!

 

[Brainonska511]

In my experience most people bring them into the office. Clearly that wouldn't work everywhere but it works at a lot of places.

As far as what NYC should do I think the answer is nothing. We don't need more free government provided storage for private property!

What NYC should do is have the cops get off their lazy asses and actually investigate and try and stop bike theft.

 

[VashHT]

The way people drive and the way our roads are, walking to school could sadly be one of the most dangerous things a child could do. Also, people are probably irrationally afraid that their child will be kidnapped.

It's insane how many people drive their kids to school nowadays, so much fun sitting in traffic that's not moving at all because there's a line of SUVs all waiting to drop off/pick up their kids. Down the road from me there are two high schools within a mile of each other or so, I've been unfortunate enough to find myself trying to drive that way when parents are going to both schools to pick up kids, turned a 10 minute drive through there to like 45 min.

I really wish people cared more about ditching cars, I could easily bike to work (only 7.5 miles) but the roads are not built for biking at all. I have a co worker that used to bike to work, he would get run off the road by drivers all the time and he stopped after someone blew through a red light and hit him and broke his femur.

 

[MrSquished]

As far as what NYC should do I think the answer is nothing. We don't need more free government provided storage for private property!

This is a terrible take. There are the right things for government to get involved in and the wrong things. Bike parking is 100% the right thing. I mean a big reason is, it happens on public sidewalks, literally the purview of the city government. Second, when government is at its best, it creates an incentive for overall positive impact on its citizens.

Quite simply, more secure bike parking is a big benefit to all citizens. Can reduce traffic and subway crowding at key times. Cars off the road also decreases pollution. Less cars equals less traffic and dangers to pedestrians. Other countries have figured it out, this is exactly where government should get involved, to incentive the proper evolution of transportation.

 

[Zorba]

In my experience most people bring them into the office. Clearly that wouldn't work everywhere but it works at a lot of places.

As far as what NYC should do I think the answer is nothing. We don't need more free government provided storage for private property!

I wasn't really only talking about public parking facilities. But if they were to do that, it wouldn't have to be free. You could also park 100+ bikes in the space of 10 cars. However, the Netherlands does provide a lot of safe public parking for bikes, it's really basic infrastructure if you want to displace cars, especially if you replace car parking with bike parking.

But I really meant are places of business providing safe places to store bikes?

I think a lot of people would be willing to pay a few bucks or get validation for good, safe, and convenient bike storage at their destination.

 

[Brainonska511]

It's insane how many people drive their kids to school nowadays, so much fun sitting in traffic that's not moving at all because there's a line of SUVs all waiting to drop off/pick up their kids. Down the road from me there are two high schools within a mile of each other or so, I've been unfortunate enough to find myself trying to drive that way when parents are going to both schools to pick up kids, turned a 10 minute drive through there to like 45 min.

I really wish people cared more about ditching cars, I could easily bike to work (only 7.5 miles) but the roads are not built for biking at all. I have a co worker that used to bike to work, he would get run off the road by drivers all the time and he stopped after someone blew through a red light and hit him and broke his femur.

School districts used to provide bus service to help avoid this problem too. But with many cutting budgets, it's probably an easy thing to chop. The true costs don't go away, but they no longer fall on the school's budget sheet.

 

[Zorba]

School districts used to provide bus service to help avoid this problem too. But with many cutting budgets, it's probably an easy thing to chop. The true costs don't go away, but they no longer fall on the school's budget sheet.

Car lines have gotten horrible regardless of bus service. People don't want their little precious to ride the bus or walk. My daughter's school is attached to our neighborhood through a back gate. You are only allowed to use the gate if you live in the neighborhood, which is the only neighborhood served by the school that doesn't have bus service. No matter the weather people drive their kids to the gate and pick them up at the gate, making the "walking" area very unsafe for kids that are actually walking. Drives me fucking crazy, but I can't even get the police to come out and enforce the no parking zones.

 

[feralkid]

Hard to put on a shocked face when one's response is, "yep".


Tucson driver races through fatal crash scene, killed in separate wreck

The driver of a car that raced though an intersection on Tucson’s south side where police were investigating a fatal crash this week was killed minutes later in a separate crash a few blocks away, authorities say.

The first deadly crash happened about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday at East Benson Highway and East Ajo Way, Tucson police said in a news release.

In it, the driver of a 2008 Ford F-150 ran a red light and slammed into a 2014 Honda Accord. The unidentified 51-year-old man driving the truck was killed. The 39-year-old unidentified man driving the Honda was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, police said in the release.

Investigators say the Ford’s driver was speeding before running the red light at Ajo and crashing into the Honda. Investigators noted an odor of alcohol from the Ford’s driver and multiple empty alcoholic beverage containers were scattered across the crash scene, the release said.

As police still were working at the crash scene about 8:45 p.m., a gold 2006 Nissan Sentra raced through, ignoring traffic cones, road flares, crime scene and police vehicles. The Nissan also struck the back of one of the occupied police vehicles before driving away, the release said.

Minutes later, the Nissan crashed into two vehicles at the intersection of South Campbell Avenue and East Drexel Road, police said.

The Nissan driver, an unidentified 36-year-old man was killed. The two other drivers suffered minor injuries, the release said.

The preliminary investigation indicates the Nissan was speeding and did not attempt to stop prior to slamming into the two vehicles, the release said.

The investigation into the crashes continues.

Jesus wept.

 

[Paratus]

Car lines have gotten horrible regardless of bus service. People don't want their little precious to ride the bus or walk. My daughter's school is attached to our neighborhood through a back gate. You are only allowed to use the gate if you live in the neighborhood, which is the only neighborhood served by the school that doesn't have bus service. No matter the weather people drive their kids to the gate and pick them up at the gate, making the "walking" area very unsafe for kids that are actually walking. Drives me fucking crazy, but I can't even get the police to come out and enforce the no parking zones.

After ending bus service for grade school kids who are within about 2 miles of the school and don’t have to cross a highway they required a waiver to have 3rd graders and below to walk or bike home.

Basically forced 600 parents to decend on the school twice a day. Also drove a lot parents to pickup their kids in golf carts!

At least 10-15% of the people in line are driving golf carts or 4 wheel ATV variants. That’s led to allowing young teens to drive all over the neighborhood, on road and off road, in golf carts because it’s not a car and their parents let them.

Hey it can’t get into an accident with a 7000lb F150 - it’s just a golf cart!

 

[Perknose]

It's insane how many people drive their kids to school nowadays, so much fun sitting in traffic that's not moving at all because there's a line of SUVs all waiting to drop off/pick up their kids.

And they really are almost all SUVs, one after another after another. That sight is as surreal to me as any Fellini movie.

 

[Zorba]

After ending bus service for grade school kids who are within about 2 miles of the school and don’t have to cross a highway they required a waiver to have 3rd graders and below to walk or bike home.

Basically forced 600 parents to decend on the school twice a day. Also drove a lot parents to pickup their kids in golf carts!

At least 10-15% of the people in line are driving golf carts or 4 wheel ATV variants. That’s led to allowing young teens to drive all over the neighborhood, on road and off road, in golf carts because it’s not a car and their parents let them.

Hey it can’t get into an accident with a 7000lb F150 - it’s just a golf cart!

I run a lot, and you wouldn't believe how many times I've had to dodge kids driving golf carts. Not that I never have to dodge cars, but generally cars are at least predictable.