The speed limit on all residential streets should be at the very most 30km/h year round. Since I started active commuting every day, I’ve noticed how alarmingly scary it is going 50 when I do have to drive. Reaction times at that speed do not allow for the amount of braking distance required.
The more I active commute, the more my distaste for driving grows. I don’t really want to drive in a big downtown like Philly or Seattle again if I can help it. Its stressful and there are too many people around for everyone to take up one F-250, one Hummer, or one Escalade worth of space.
I don’t understand all these PSAs. Nobody is trick or treating along a 45-55 mph suburban arterial. They’re in the neighborhood. I don’t care how fast people drive on the freeway as long as they’re safe about it, but if you can’t drive 25 in the neighborhood, you should be forever forced to park on a main road outside of it and walk in on foot.
The problem is that many neighborhood streets were designed to be wide so you could feel completely safe driving on them, however the problem is that this makes you drive faster, meaning that when accidents do occur, they’re more severe, and happen more often. This is also why many people speed on stroads, because they feel comfortable at 60 when the limit is 45.
I totally agree. I’m not willing to let the individuals off the hook for their driving, but I’m willing to acknowledge that design plays a large part in this.
Don’t let them off the hook - driving safety should be taken way more seriously than it is. But don’t think that telling people to drive better solves the problem. You tell people to drive better by making design choices that cause them to feel more comfortable driving safely. Design isn’t the whole problem, but it’s at least 90% of the solution.
we need a distinction between streets in roads, culturally, legally and design-wise. a road is for cars to go fast, a street is for residential/business life. people should intuitively know which they’re on by looking at it and act accordingly
The speed limit on all residential streets should be at the very most 30km/h year round. Since I started active commuting every day, I’ve noticed how alarmingly scary it is going 50 when I do have to drive. Reaction times at that speed do not allow for the amount of braking distance required.
The more I active commute, the more my distaste for driving grows. I don’t really want to drive in a big downtown like Philly or Seattle again if I can help it. Its stressful and there are too many people around for everyone to take up one F-250, one Hummer, or one Escalade worth of space.
I don’t understand all these PSAs. Nobody is trick or treating along a 45-55 mph suburban arterial. They’re in the neighborhood. I don’t care how fast people drive on the freeway as long as they’re safe about it, but if you can’t drive 25 in the neighborhood, you should be forever forced to park on a main road outside of it and walk in on foot.
The problem is that many neighborhood streets were designed to be wide so you could feel completely safe driving on them, however the problem is that this makes you drive faster, meaning that when accidents do occur, they’re more severe, and happen more often. This is also why many people speed on stroads, because they feel comfortable at 60 when the limit is 45.
I totally agree. I’m not willing to let the individuals off the hook for their driving, but I’m willing to acknowledge that design plays a large part in this.
Don’t let them off the hook - driving safety should be taken way more seriously than it is. But don’t think that telling people to drive better solves the problem. You tell people to drive better by making design choices that cause them to feel more comfortable driving safely. Design isn’t the whole problem, but it’s at least 90% of the solution.
neighborhood streets should be narrowed to no more than 20 ft, maybe even less, and the rest of the land annexed into adjacent properties
we need a distinction between streets in roads, culturally, legally and design-wise. a road is for cars to go fast, a street is for residential/business life. people should intuitively know which they’re on by looking at it and act accordingly
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/10/30/the-stroad like this, but you can also get all old urbanist about it and make your streets all Really Narrow