Fuck Cars

When Americans complain about everything being car-centric, this is exactly the kind of shit they’re complaining about.

My grocery store is a mile away, but I can’t legally walk there. There are no crosswalks to get to the store. If I’m going to fully obey the law as written, I must use a car just to go to the store.

EDIT: Leaving this up for clarity, but I did in fact read the wrong link from the post. The above commenter is correct. Carry on and have a good day.

Clearly the driver had no bad intentions.

I hate to break it to you, but:

Jerry Guy, the man who hit the family and never stopped, reportedly admitted drinking "a little" alcohol earlier in the day. He also admitted to being on painkillers and being partially blind in one eye.

Guy had been convicted of two previous hit and run accidents. He pleaded guilty to the hit and run that took A.J.'s life and served six months in jail.

In a world without cars this man wouldn’t have killed a child with his decisions. But this is still gross negligence, especially the multiple hit-and-run charges.

I do agree that if anything this is a great case for pushing public transit and eliminating car centrism. But to not stop/pull over, multiple times, is its own level of selfishness.

I live a few miles from where this occurred. The sidewalk is right on the road (only on one side) it's 4 lanes with no crossing other than the light at the grocery store. You cross at the light, you have no sidewalk, you don't cross at the light you have to cross without a crosswalk. It's 4 lanes split by a row of trees, very low visibility, and every one speeds over the 45 mph posted speed limit. I wouldn't let my 13 cross that road and walk down it, much less at 6pm, one of the busiest times.

For context, this is where it occurred: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9GjCYGBAm5BBm8k59

Meanwhile all the boomers talk about how they have such find memories of walking around unsupervised until the streetlights came on or whatever lame Facebook nostalgia meme they're parroting

Yeah, I remember when I was 7 I'd explore everywhere around my house for at least a few miles. There was a convenience store 2 miles out where I'd buy candy any time I'd scrounged up a few dollars of change.

What happened was terrible, but it was an accident nevertheless. Nobody should have to serve time, especially not the grieving parents.

A vicious cycle happened. 24 hour news reports every child abduction basically in the country, making parents feel that they're more common than they are. Kids freedom starts getting restricted. There's less kids outside, so parents are less comfortable letting their own kids out, and kids have less incentive to go out. At the same time, the number of indoor entertainment options explodes. As they stop being seen outside, the world adjusts to life without them.... Less crosswalks, less bikeable areas, less parks. With so few kids being outside the house, the parents who still encourage their kids to play outside or go do things become the minority and law enforcement fucks with them accordingly, as in this story, making parents even more reluctant to let their kids out of their sight.

There's some resistance to this. Free Range Kids comes to mind. People see the problem and want to do something. But as you can see even in this thread, people have so accepted "kids should stay inside supervised at all times" as the norm that it's an uphill battle.

Car-centric society has made it damn near impossible to walk.

Those six blocks you used to walk have all had their lanes widened into stroads, one converted into a thoroughfare, and no attention was given to pedestrian infrastructure so crosswalks, sidewalks or bike paths are almost non-existent unless you're within 2 blocks of the school.

We have literally built most of our cities, or redesigned older cities that used to be pedestrian friendly and walkable, into a wasteland of asphalt and concrete designed exclusively for personal vehicles.

Have you been to an American school recently? The elementary next to my house could be confused for a prison at first glance. It hasn't gotten bad, if anything it's actually safer than when we went to school. They have promoted a society of individuals ruled by fear.