A slow, one lane road would be fine. But specifically in the context of US downtowns, we had a bunch of two-way roads converted to two or three lane one ways so that speeds could be dramatically increased. In my city, virtually all of the pedestrians who die in downtown, die crossing these roads. They are particularly dangerous because when someone is crossing, the closest car will often stop and then someone behind will swerve around at high speeds to continue their rate of travel, and can’t see a pedestrian as they step into the next lane due to the height of the stopped vehicle.
It’s insane to me how many people would rather swerve around someone rather than take a second to ease into a stop together. Though, I will admit that half the time I stop behind someone, 5 to 10 seconds later they either turn on their hazards or they let someone out of their car, including on one way streets like that.
Basically everything is garbage with having to drive everywhere, all the time.
It’s actually a legal requirement to stop when another car stops at a crosswalk, at least in California. But of course this is widely flouted.
I think it’s just one of those things that seems obvious when you think about it, but most people just don’t. Human beings didn’t evolve to operate heavy machinery at speed, and our brains aren’t well suited for it. So that’s why we need to change the infrastructure to enforce safety. I don’t think we can get there through education or enforcement.
A slow, one lane road would be fine. But specifically in the context of US downtowns, we had a bunch of two-way roads converted to two or three lane one ways so that speeds could be dramatically increased. In my city, virtually all of the pedestrians who die in downtown, die crossing these roads. They are particularly dangerous because when someone is crossing, the closest car will often stop and then someone behind will swerve around at high speeds to continue their rate of travel, and can’t see a pedestrian as they step into the next lane due to the height of the stopped vehicle.
It’s insane to me how many people would rather swerve around someone rather than take a second to ease into a stop together. Though, I will admit that half the time I stop behind someone, 5 to 10 seconds later they either turn on their hazards or they let someone out of their car, including on one way streets like that.
Basically everything is garbage with having to drive everywhere, all the time.
It’s actually a legal requirement to stop when another car stops at a crosswalk, at least in California. But of course this is widely flouted.
I think it’s just one of those things that seems obvious when you think about it, but most people just don’t. Human beings didn’t evolve to operate heavy machinery at speed, and our brains aren’t well suited for it. So that’s why we need to change the infrastructure to enforce safety. I don’t think we can get there through education or enforcement.
It’s far worse in the US than it is in some other countries I’ve lived in. So education and enforcement can probably make a significant difference.
Sounds like it’s the inappropriate speed limit and failure to control crosswalks that are more deadly than the direction of travel.
Sure but they’re not disconnected from one another. People naturally drive slower when there’s oncoming traffic.