Posted by If you’re a warm blooded human who takes to the streets and roads each day for work, play, or appointments, you have undoubtedly noticed that, since Covid, driving has become even more of a legal free-for-all. Speeding, red light running, and general reckless driving dominate our roads with a frequency I can’t recall in my lifetime.
This is a trend that has societal, racial and even socioeconomic undertones. But the sheer fact of the matter is that fewer police officers combined with more activism fueling the infrequency of traffic stops has likely led to a greater sense that the deterrents of dangerous behavior behind the wheel are far less pervasive.
Imagine, for a moment, that the U.S. acknowledged that driving was the second leading killer of children and teens (second only to gun violence… that’s for another rant) and actually addressed it? If we really are serious about protecting our most precious resource, why aren’t we, as a nation, addressing the fact that our preferred and prioritized individualistic transportation “choice” doubles as the shroud that extinguishes so many young human lives? And imagine what it would look like if we took real action in normalizing automatic speed traps, red light cameras and most importantly, limiting the speed, power and weight of our automobiles in the interest of public safety.
The backlash would likely be the tired American narrative that this is a denial of the personal freedom to wield as much power and speed as we so desire. Ironically, the political mantra of family, faith, country and open space is the most likely group to purchase vehicles that most fervently threaten human life.
As communities threaten to ban e-bikes due to a single tragic and unfortunate death, we are blinded to the fact that approximately 40,000 Americans die from car crashes each year. Ignored is the fact that larger, faster, more powerful vehicles are likely the leading reason why pedestrian deaths are on the rise.
The unfortunate truth is that we have so aggressively built our communities around automobile access that no other form of mobility has a safe or equitable chance. If we did treat automobiles as the dangerous weapons that they are, and legislated, shunned, and enforced them like we are attempting to do with electric micro-mobility, the cost of driving would skyrocket, thus putting families in a difficult financial position. Restricting cars to 30mph, mandating vehicle size and weight, and auto-ticketing offenders would likely induce financial shockwaves across our American socioeconomic spectrum that is so steeped in the “bigger, faster, more powerful” narrative, it would likely cause a revolt.
Honestly, I hate that every urbanist conversation comes down to the wickedness of the automobile and its viral nature. But with every narrative that defends our uniquely-driven defense of the most exclusive form of transportation, I am shocked by the lack of ability to see how our families , communities, and human life are placed in grave danger every day due to the unparalleled prioritization of the automobile.