cyclists and driverless cars

Can cyclists and driverless cars ever co-exist?

Janette Sadik-Khan:

“There are some exciting possibilities with autonomous vehicles but I think we need to remember what makes a great city, and that’s really about the people, not the cars.”

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Ceri Woolsgrove of the ECF sees “potential for good and potential for evil”. “In terms of the car itself, Vision Zero could be genuinely within reach with some of these technologies,” he says. “You can programme a car to obey all of the traffic rules perfectly and to be extra vigilant of cyclists and walkers. You can literally control where the car goes.”

Prioritise Pedestrians over Cars

In a densely populated neighbourhood, new traffic signal will favour pedestrians –

= prioritizing pedestrians over cars in dense, multimodal neighborhoods.

The traffic signal known as a “Barnes dance” or “pedestrian scramble” is making a resurgence in urban areas across the country as people ditch cars in favor of walking and cycling.

In Columbia Heights, the new signal will give pedestrians about 30 seconds to cross 14th and Irving streets in any direction while all cars are stopped. Youngbluth said the intersection will have a different rhythm than pedestrians and vehicles are accustomed to.

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Ralentissez

Cette semaine a lieu la 4ième semaine de sécurité routière des NAtions Unies avec le slogan “Ralentissez” p. Sauver des Vies

Si un piéton ou un cycliste est heurté par une voiture à 55km/h le risque de mourir est de 90%. Si la vitesse d’impact par contre est 30km/h le risque va vers zéro.

 

 

 

Ban cars from roads near schools

Ban cars from roads near schools to stop kids breathing toxic air& reduce road danger

Sadiq Khan, mayor of London has said cars should be banned from roads near schools in order to reduce air pollution.

It comes after a recent study found that tens of thousands of children in London’s schools are exposed to illegal levels of air pollution that can damage their health permanently.

“Why can’t we work with schools and councils to have some roads outside schools where cars aren’t allowed to go? Really encourage mums, dads, carers and children to walk to school. It will be safer and you are not breathing in toxic air when playing in the playground.”

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CASUALTY AND PHYSICAL INACTIVITY COSTS

Calculation which assesses the costs of fatal, serious and non-serious casualties + the costs of physical inactivity.

Let’s Walk and Slow Down

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The road rule drivers always get wrong

Pedestrian safety needs to start with educating drivers and better enforcement of pedestrian rights.

A police operation in Sidney NSW, aimed to “raise awareness about road safety in the cycling community and among pedestrians and to promote safe road use”

Is pedestrian safety still seen as mostly about policing pedestrian behaviour?

There are many pedestrians who take silly risks when crossing the road, but there are even more drivers who do the wrong thing when it comes to giving way to pedestrians.

The difference is that the dangerous driver is far more likely to hurt someone else.

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(including comments)

• By Caitlin Fitzsimmons (Sidney Morning Herald)

 

Make a city more walkable

 

Freedom from cars, freedom from sprawl, freedom to walk your city!

City planner Jeff Speck shares his “general theory of walkability” — four planning principles to transform sprawling cities of six-lane highways and 600-foot blocks into safe, walkable oases full of bike lanes and tree-lined streets.

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Transforming Transportation

Transforming Transportation: Toward Sustainable Mobility for All

SUBMITTED BY JOSE LUIS IRIGOYEN ON WED, 01/11/2017

CO-AUTHORS: HOLGER DALKMANN

Personal cars were a 20^th century symbol of prosperity, but in the 21^st century, they contribute to three pernicious trends:

• Congestion
• Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

• Road Crashes

  Globally, about 1.25 million people die each year because of road traffic crashes. Ninety percent of the world’s road fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries, even though these countries have only about 50% of the world’s vehicles. Half of these global road fatalities occur among the most vulnerable populations: pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists. As if a fatality in itself is not devastating enough, road traffic fatalities cause economic losses to the victim’s family and society: traffic crashes cost countries between 3 and 5% of their GDP.

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Please check www.transformingtransportation.org for regular updates, and tune in to social media at #TTDC17.

City responsible for Road Violence

No Traffic Calming? City responsible for Road Violence Injuries in Landmark Decision

-“New York City and other municipalities can be held liable for failing to redesign streets with a history of traffic injuries and reckless driving.”

The judge commented: It is  known among traffic engineers that straight, wide roads with little interference from pedestrians and other vehicles encourage speeding because drivers feel more comfortable on roadways with those characteristics…traffic calming measures deter speeding because they cause drivers to be more cautious, and that such measures are known to reduce the overall speed on roadways.” The upshot? The jury could conclude that “negligence was a proximate cause of the accident”.

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Why We Say ‘Car Accident,’

Why We Say ‘Car Accident,’ and Why We Need to Stop

• SARAH GOODYEAR

The term suggests fatal crashes are inevitable and beyond our control—they’re not.

The words we use, on some level, simply describe the world we live in. It’s a world in which we’ve surrendered to cars as the primary way to move our fragile bodies around. Accidents will happen.

I think we routinely use language to distance ourselves from the idea that drivers in fatal crashes are killers, because we know that means we could be killers, too. We’re protecting ourselves from the brutal reality that all too quickly, we ourselves could be the ones making an error in judgment, losing control, and destroying people’s lives.

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