How does this article not mention the SIZE of new trucks and SUVs? Even 15 years ago a new truck or SUV had a much smaller front end. Now if you buy a new truck its front is 6 feet tall! No wonder there are more deaths! This is a problem that needs to be regulated at the manufacturer level, not just the infrastructure level.
Remember when they banned hood ornaments for posing a risk to pedestrians? How about we ban hoods that are taller than the average person?
I think the key to winning the war on cars in the US is to appeal to identity politics. Car advocates love their freedom and property values and are terrified of the government taking it away.
All places of consequence you can go with a car require using a road you have to have GOVERNMENT PERMISSION to operate a car on that is easily tied to individuals. Plate scanners, toll transponders, traffic cameras, vehicle connectivity system and cellular location data can be used by the government to EASILY track a driver. Considering how an authoritarian government can make life hell, fear of growing government power is a reasonable fear. But advocating for cars is unwittingly handing the government that power.
We want options for walking, busses, bikes, ferrys, mopeds, scooters, trains, planes, subways, and even drive cars. Most require no government ID or permission to use.
Last, how much is a building in the outskirts of Alexandria worth vs an equivalent in Dupont Circle? Same metro area, except the latter has better transportation access and a lot that can be accessed via walking.
It’s frogger…with guns potentially
Sigh, every day I walk outside in my city and just behold the larger and ever more boxy SUVs, mid-size SUVs, pickup trucks, and cross-overs, and just think to myself “why.”
One aspect of it that makes me sad is that even if everyone on earth decided tomorrow that these vehicles are just too big, all the trucks, SUVs, etc. that they’ve already made would still exist out there - we can’t get rid of them.
It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
