Loving the car

Pulitzer prize winning photograph, 1959.

Maybe I could go in on the new year by completely changing my perspective. Just so you know, I am not against cars. But I am against kow-towing to cars. Plus, the urban design of Washington, not to mention most U.S. center cities, is based on an pedestrian-centric urban design. So cars, for the most part, work to destroy, or at the very least significantly diminish the quality of the urban experience.
USA Today graphic. Data from the National Safety Council.

Still, this letter to the editor in the Chicago Sun-Times is pretty persuasive, huh? Reminds me of the "pedestrians are a hindrance" subhead in one of the sections of a NARPAC report on the K Street busway/streetcar proposal...

In "Hey pedestrians! Just get out of drivers' way, please," Ted Budzynski, of Near West Side Chicago writes:

I was watching Channel 2 News, with Jon Duncanson reporting that pedestrians have the right of way. I don't agree, because the streets belong to the cars, and pedestrians have no right to hold up traffic.

The cars travel faster than people crossing the street, and there's only so much time before the traffic light changes. When people take their sweet time crossing and the light changes, then there's traffic coming at cars trying to complete the turns.

If there are only three cars making a right turn, isn't it better for people to wait the few seconds and let the cars complete the turn? Why should hundreds of pedestrians hold up three cars making a right turn? I say, let the cars go by and let them get out of the way.

A car is a weapon; it can kill like a gun. Why are people afraid to walk in front of a pointed gun, but they're not afraid to walk in front of a car? What would happen if a car's brakes would go out? Why take a chance? Years ago, parents told their children to look both ways before crossing the street; but now, parents don't educate their children on crossing the street. People will take a chance, thinking a car must stop for them.

After hearing about children getting killed by cars, whose fault is that? I blame the parents. If parents really love their children, they would educate them on looking both ways before crossing the street and be safe rather than sorry. Let the cars go by. I also don't agree with Brian Steele from the Department of Transportation, saying, ''People have the right of way." Why doesn't Brian Steele crack down on jaywalkers instead of cracking down on cars that have the right of way? Isn't jaywalking illegal?
Image from Time's Up Memorial Stencil Project.

Index Keywords: car-culture