http://sftod.com/2009/10/15/modal-bias/ Coordinating architecture and movement in the San Francisco Bay Area Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:38:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://sftod.com/2009/10/15/modal-bias/comment-page-1/#comment-355 Pedestrianist Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:02:05 +0000 http://sftod.com/?p=350#comment-355 I agree right down to the last sentence, which I'd like to emphasize. There is a natural hierarchy of transportation modes, arranged by how much they sacrifice public safety for personal speed. Ideally traffic laws and road culture would reflect this. Some places (Paris, Portland) have enacted vulnerable users' laws that attempt to recognize that someone who is walking is not, at the core, responsible for an accident just because someone wanted to make their own life convenient by driving. Driving, in these cases, is acknowledged to be a privilege, not a right, and drivers who cannot promise to be responsible for those they endanger are subject to losing that privilege. I agree right down to the last sentence, which I’d like to emphasize. There is a natural hierarchy of transportation modes, arranged by how much they sacrifice public safety for personal speed. Ideally traffic laws and road culture would reflect this. Some places (Paris, Portland) have enacted vulnerable users’ laws that attempt to recognize that someone who is walking is not, at the core, responsible for an accident just because someone wanted to make their own life convenient by driving. Driving, in these cases, is acknowledged to be a privilege, not a right, and drivers who cannot promise to be responsible for those they endanger are subject to losing that privilege.

]]> http://sftod.com/2009/10/15/modal-bias/comment-page-1/#comment-353 Daniel Howard Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:30:36 +0000 http://sftod.com/?p=350#comment-353 The bigger-wins problem helps explain why pedestrians and cyclists can be particularly assertive in San Francisco. I've smacked a good number of cars that got too close to me. I found this approach to be counter-productive in New York, where pedestrians can basically do whatever they want, but have to share the road, and the crosswalk, with cars, very closely. The cars try not to kill anyone, and they have to drive slow because there are pedestrians (jaywalking) EVERYWHERE . . . so they're all just kinda creeping around each other. The bigger-wins problem helps explain why pedestrians and cyclists can be particularly assertive in San Francisco. I’ve smacked a good number of cars that got too close to me. I found this approach to be counter-productive in New York, where pedestrians can basically do whatever they want, but have to share the road, and the crosswalk, with cars, very closely. The cars try not to kill anyone, and they have to drive slow because there are pedestrians (jaywalking) EVERYWHERE . . . so they’re all just kinda creeping around each other.

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