Sunday, April 15, 2018

This means you: "STOP FUCKING DRIVING YOUR CAR AT PEOPLE."


This insightful comment to a fine rant clarifies the problem of bad design affecting outcomes. Perhaps Larry Summers can elucidate, assuming Dear Leader permits "truthful dialogue" within city limits.

"This is largely a problem of bad design of North American intersections, compounded by MUTCD and its Canadian equivalent. Cut to Germany (and many other places), where traffic lights are aligned between the stop line and the crosswalk. There are no traffic signals on the opposite side of the intersection (though in places like the UK, there will be two lights at the stop line, on either side of the nearside, and one light on the far side). This forces drivers to stop before the crosswalk and makes it almost impossible for drivers to see the light if they pull forward. North American roadway design is dangerous in its neglect for the safety of pedestrians."

We already know what Pat McLaughlin would say: "Can't they just drive like everyone else who matters?"

Meanwhile, the author is Canadian, and the problem is universal.

STOP FUCKING DRIVING YOUR CAR AT PEOPLE, by Jonathan McLeod (Steps from the Canal)

Often when I’m crossing a street–on my bike or walking or walking with my small children–a driver will be slowly driving at me. They’ll be creeping past the stop line and into the crosswalk, hoping to go through right after I clear their fender. Make no mistake, I’ll have the right of way. They’ll be waiting at a stop sign or looking to turn right on a red.

A lot of you do this, and here’s the thing; I don’t care how nice you are out of your car, how caring, how altruistic, how thoughtful; when you do this, when you creep towards a vulnerable road user–especially young children–you’re being an asshole.

Stop it. It’s rude. It’s threatening. It’s selfish. It’s intimidating. It’s fucking dangerous.

Recently, a New York driver did this. And she killed a one-year-old and three-year-old, and sent a pregnant woman to the hospital. From the story:

The woman told officers that she was creeping up a bit at the intersection in anticipation of the red light changing and then accidentally hit the accelerator, according to the Post report, which cited information from sources.

Make no mistake about it, this woman is a murderer, if the word is to mean anything at all. She intentionally drove her car at people, then “accidentally” accelerated at them.

Because New York authorities take things so seriously, they let the killer go ...

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