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FireRetardant

@FireRetardant@lemmy.world

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FireRetardant ,

Are they also protesting the frieght trains that are often heavier and noisier? Or just the trains that let "poor people" get around?

Every rail in an urban area near me has signs saying not to block the track. Every crossing on a busy road has lights and crossing bars. Every low traffic crossing has warning signs and a STOP before crossing.

These signs are for drivers, drivers are trained to recognize them and they resemble all the other road signs drivers are expected to follow.

If your area is using similar signage then this is 100% on negligent drivers. If they replace that rail with a road are drivers just going to run the red or gridlock the intersection like they currently treat the rail crossing?

FireRetardant ,

It isn't about logic, it is about preventing the station which prevents the denser developments that come with it and prevents people from living in those developments. These protesters mostly want to preserve (read increase) their property values while preserving the "character of the neighbourhood" (read if you don't already live here, you don't belong).

FireRetardant ,

I agree, we definitely need density and transit. It would help the climate and housing situations.

FireRetardant ,

In places with good transit, you actually can show off a fancy ticket. Some rail offers first class flight type of accommodations which can include more leg/seat room, comfier seating, a meal, and other amenities.

FireRetardant ,

If a pedestrian is on a cross walk, the bigger mass should be required to stop to let the pedestrian cross safely.

It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure an intersection is clear before crossing it. A crosswalk is an intersection and a pedestrian is foot traffic.

FireRetardant ,

  1. Cancel congestion pricing

  2. Funnel more cars into the city by investing in highways.

  3. Oil companies profit.

FireRetardant ,

A driver's impatience and eagerness to pass has always baffled me and in my area we really need better enforcement for agressive and dangerous passes (uphill, blind corners). The other day i was driving a large work van through a school zone just as all the kids are getting out. This other driver tailgated me, then blew past me in the oncoming lane as we passed the school. About 5 seconds later we were out of the school zone and i had caught up to the driver that was now stuck behind another car. This driver literally risked running over children to save maybe 5 seconds and be 1 car length ahead.

In my opinion, they should have their car impounded, lisence suspended for a period of time, and have an agressive driving charge which conditions of losing their lisence forever if caught doing something similar again. Letting people continue to drive like that will eventually lead to injury or death.

FireRetardant ,

That is the exact reason I stopped passing people unless they are significantly under the limit. Most of the time you don't get much farther or faster. Sometimes you get lucky and miss a red or two by passing but the time saved vs the risk just isn't worth it for me.

FireRetardant ,

They are still gonna be less effecient than smaller, lighter models with modern technology.

Another factor is bigger vehicles are deadlier.

FireRetardant ,

And also people in a smaller vehicle involved in a collision. Higher bumper heights hit windows instead of crumple zones.

FireRetardant ,

If a city cannot manage their bicycle traffic, how should we ever expect them to handle car traffic?

Any problems with bicycles is a simple issue of infrastructure and priority.

FireRetardant ,

They really aren't that much better for the planet compared to ICE and when compared to transit or active transport they really are the least effecient "green" option.

Its not just about reducing carbon, we should be trying to reduce overall energy usage and focus on effecient systems.

Everyone driving their electric SUV to park in a sea of pavement is not effecient land or energy use.

FireRetardant ,

I don't think public deaths is a valid cost for creating self driving cars. We could be builidng safer and more effecient transportation systems. Some billionaire is going to make even more money because they were allowed to use the general public and city streets as a testing ground for their product. This is not fair to the family or the people who are injured or killed by self driving cars.

FireRetardant ,

Driving while inebriated is illegal, self driving is not.

Traffics jams and erreactic behaviour could be fixed if everyone is in a self driving car, but at that point it woild be far more energy effecient, environmentally friendly and cheaper for society to build electrified transit instead.

If you prioritize the street so that only self driving cars are on it and they need wireless communications to function, how do other road users like cyclists and pedeatrians safely use the street?

Self driving cars are not here to make your life better, they are here to make a handful of people rich.

FireRetardant ,

There are greener, more energy effecient and more socially fair ways to get the same results than selling everybody a high tech steel box.

FireRetardant ,

The same problem could be fixed with electrified transit and walkability. Transit would also be even more environmentally friendly.

Plus we could still develop self driving cars but do a lot more testing before we set the public as the guinea pigs to see if they are safe.

Id also argue that we cannot claim this is the worst self driving will get since self driving cars are only used in a few areas right now.

FireRetardant ,

Either way they'd have to rip out new ore, probably burning carbon to dig it up. Then smelt it, using more carbon, then transport the metal and turn it into an EV. Seems like developing more effecient forms of transportation would be a lot more green than selling everyone a new "green" electric vehicle.

FireRetardant ,

I have a buddy who prefers these over the chewy dipped versions and I can confirm he is a pyschopath

FireRetardant ,

Electric cars aren't going to fix climate change

FireRetardant ,

Here is my reasonable argument against EVs. EVs only really solve the emissions part of the equation. They dont solve the massive amounts of paved surface, private ownership of thousands of pounds of steel and plastic, they still use massive amounts of energy to move that steel and plastic and building cities for cars is largely ineffecient and expensive to maintain.

We could do a lot more for the environment than EVs. Id rather see their subsidies go to things like electrified transit, cycling infrastructure or walkability improvements.

FireRetardant ,

We should defintely still make EVs, overall they are going to be better than ICE. We just shouldn't force/subsidize everyone to have to buy and drive an EV like we did with ICE cars.

FireRetardant ,

The vast majority of people who are anti car are anti car centric urban environments. Noboby is expecting a small town of 300 people to build a tram, we are expecting places with congested highways to build transit instead of "adding one more lane to solve traffic forever"

FireRetardant ,

The only reason people in urban centers do not have transit is because governments neglected to build it. If they can build a 6 lane highway through your city, they could build transit.

We shouldnt use rural and spread out areas as an excuse to not build our cities and denser areas better and service them with transit.

FireRetardant ,

Yes and i agree with that sentiment. 20 years down the line we will realize our cities are just as unwalkable and unable to be served by transit if we build them to exclussively serve the car. We should build cities so walking, cycling, transit and driving are all realistic options. For most north American cities we only prioiritize the car.

FireRetardant ,

I think much of north america is dug so deep into car centric planning that making drivers pay the full cost would be too expensive for a significant portion of the population and workforce. I think the alternatives need to exist before the taxation because many people are constrained to their car being their only reliable way to get to work.

Making that cost more could put huge financial stress on a family whereas building the rail before the taxation could provide a cheaper alternative before the taxation even begins.

FireRetardant ,

So is someone supposed to rent a hotel room for 3 years when they move away from their home town to go to college?

FireRetardant ,

If you wouldn't trust your child to safely bike the lane, the lane is unsafe for any cyclist is how I like to look at it.

FireRetardant ,

Roads for cars are built almost exclussively for just cars. Its half the reason this community even exists. Roads speced for bikes wouldn't need to tolerate nearly as much weight nor would they need to be as wide as car lanes. Many intersections would also be served with yields rather than traffic lights as most bike traffic can negotiate intersections easily.

FireRetardant , (edited )

Please no more bulldozing neighbourhoods. Bike lanes would be far easier to accomodate in a neighbourhood than a 6+ lane freeway was.

FireRetardant ,

Technically speaking. Motorcycle do not need the full width. It is not uncommon to see them side by side in a single lane.

If your bike max speed is 40kph, thats the slower side of car speeds so the roads could still be designed far differently for bikes.

FireRetardant ,

Leaving them in nature to die and keeping them "safe" by preserving them in captivity is 2 sides of the same coin. Either way their natural lives have been robbed from them.

Not saying we should do nothing but just keep every species alive in special zoos and aquariams sounds dystopian and it feels like a stretch to call keeping animals in captivity "preserving nature".

FireRetardant ,

I would argue this is in no way a safety improvement. Many cyclists are at risk of being hit as cars prepare to turn. Many drivers will not check side mirrors for cyclists before entering the turning lane.

FireRetardant , (edited )

The war on cars podcast did an interesting episode on car advertisements that really boiled down to many car ads advertising a car as a ticket to the outdoors. With beautiful shots of the car driving down forested roads, crossing rivers and destroying the environment it promised to bring you to.

The other styles of car commericial include,

recklessly driving through city streets or rural mountain roads
&
Buy this truck or you won't be a man

FireRetardant ,

Normal people can still save for their future. We shouldn't normalize being able to save a little bit for your future as being wealthy. I'm still struggling to secure a future for myself and the only way i can save that money is by being frugal and making other sacrifices in my life like driving as little as often and meal prepping. A small change to my expenses could eliminate the little bit i save each month.

FireRetardant ,

Cyclists will still benefit from desner developments. I'd still rather cycle 10 minutes to work than 15 or 20 if it were more spread out.

FireRetardant ,

America was founded on slavery and that established a certain quaility and way of life. When slavery was abolished many people wanted to keep the lifestyle that was built on the backs of slaves but without relying on slaves (cheap sugar and foriegn produce for example). Eventually corporations figured out that most people won't care so long as the slavery is out of sight, out of mind, by being done in another country.

FireRetardant ,

So does shortened attention spans not count as any type of brain development change or is that not actually happening/outside of this study?

FireRetardant ,

Growing cattle has also had a massive impact on the environment. And you often need more land for animal based materials because you both need land for the animals and the land to grow food for the animals. With cotton at least you just need land for the cotton.

FireRetardant ,

You are misreading that 5% claim. 95% of global livestock are fed food grown specifically to feed them. 5% are fed the way you claim.

FireRetardant ,

The number of people that slowly inch their bumpers towards the old lady crossing the street so they can zoom past is truly disgusting. Could you imagine treating your own mother like that?

FireRetardant ,

That is just his style and attitude and I think its helps him keep his viewers interested and relieves some of the stress he feels while talking about stuff like road fatalities and wealth inequality.

FireRetardant ,

If most highways can be free (as in tax funded) then transit should certainly be free.

FireRetardant ,

The wealth will trickle down!

FireRetardant ,

I think he looks happier in the second photo

FireRetardant ,

Often parked on prime real estate, or in a sea of wasted spaces that are rarely ever at capacity, sometimes both.

FireRetardant ,

We created that thing already. Its called actvive transport and transit. Walking and cycling are nearly emissions free. Transit is still far more effecient than private cars. We just need to build a society that prioritizes these as much or more than cars.

FireRetardant ,

How do you propose we solve excessive exhaust noise without regulation?

Tools for collecting traffic data on my street?

I'm working with my neighbors to petition the city to add traffic calming measures (e.g. speed bumps, one way roads) to my street. I'm also hoping to turn it into a bit of a research project. Does anyone know of any tools to monitor or even automate data collection of the speeds of cars, number of cars going by, how many...

FireRetardant ,

I would disagree. As a teenager/young adult I treated them as a high score meter. Many people do the same as there is no physical aspects slowing you down and no consequences for not slowing down. Speed bumps slow people down to protect their suspension/ride quality. Lane narrowing slows people down as they need to be more careful to maintain their lane. Adding narrow bends to the road also slows people down to maintain their lane.

Traffic calming often needs a physical aspect to it to be effective. Relying on just the good will of drivers is rarely effective because emotion and attitude can change drastcially between drivers.

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