Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

This is what happens when you design roads for cars instead of people.

Also see the discussion at Commute Orlando.

Technorati Tags: car culture, pedestrian safety, walking

When one is mindful one may be able to truly identify with one’s task (and one’s self) — a state of mind and resulting performance that leads to quality.

We’re all aware that using cell phones while driving leads to poor quality because driving is a complex task that requires mindfulness to produce quality results.

According to The New York Times today, talking on a cell phone even makes walking more dangerous. The article mentions a phenomenon called “inattention blindness” that can be caused by electronic devices because, as the theory goes, you tend to create pictures in your head to replace what you’re not seeing (i.e. the person you’re talking to and the situations you’re talking about). So you’re paying attention to the pictures in your head instead of that pole you’re about to walk into, or the bicyclist you’re about to right-hook, or the child you’re about to run over.

Let me gently suggest that we’d all be a lot happier if we stopped the multitasking maddness. We’ll also be smarter, healthier,  and safer. And we might even begin to remember that the moving objects around us are actually real human beings.

Technorati Tags: pedestrian safety, walking

And that plays a role in why about 35,ooo to 40,000 Americans die in traffic every year.

This figure shocks no one because, frankly, we 1) don’t give a shit, and 2) think that it won’t happen to us because “I’m a better driver than others” (read this because you are not).

OK, perhaps some of us do give a shit. The U.S. has tried to use engineering to make roads and cars safer (while also making roads that encourage speed). What if, instead, we tried to slow traffic by making cars share space with other road users? What if, instead, we discouraged speed?

Check out this examination of the differences between Dutch and American approaches to safety. Also check out the response at Commute Orlando.

Speed kills.

Yet, sometimes we give in.

Technorati Tags: bicycle safety, car culture, complete streets, cycling, pedestrian safety, traffic design

The inspiring part is that Ms. Armstrong and her father have forgiven the driver:

Kimberly’s father, Bill Armstrong, said he spoke with Harper after the charge was filed Tuesday.

“I just don’t want to see Scott go to jail,” Bill Armstrong said. “I don’t think he’s earned that. A lot of things led up to it, but it was an accident.”

He said his daughter was “upset” about the charge being filed. “Kimberly likes Scott. She doesn’t want to see this happen to him.”

Harper was unavailable for comment, but Bill Armstrong said he and his daughter plan to support Harper at his trial. “If Scott wants us there and he needs us there we’ll be there,” he said.

I think there is too little forgiveness in this world. I’m not so sure I could be forgiving in this circumstance. Now I have a model in the Armstrongs.

But I also have a problem.

I’m afraid their forgiveness may be playing a role in their interpretation of this crash. This was most certainly not an accident. Ms. Armstrong was nearly killed as a predictable result of the driver’s bad behavior. The judge should not take the Armstrong’s forgiveness into account. That would send a bad message.

Here’s what the police say:

Officer James Hinkle concluded Harper was traveling 15 miles above the 40 mph speed limit, and that was a key factor in the collision.

“It is my opinion that this crash is the result of inattention and excessive speed of Mr. Harper,” Hinkle wrote in his report.

“If Mr. Harper had seen Ms. Armstrong in the crosswalk when he crested the hill, he would have had time to react to either avoid the accident or reduce his speed substantially.

“Had he been going the speed limit, this collision would have been avoided entirely.”

Note the language — crash and collision (although, yes, he does use the A-word once — two outta three ain’t bad, I suppose). Note, too, in the story that despite the possibility that Ms. Armstrong was crossing against the light, she is not being blamed. She was a pedestrian in a crosswalk, which is a lot like saying “She was the queen of the road.”

Forgiveness is a personal thing. That the Armstrongs have offered it and the driver accepted it is a moment of grace in the nasty world of American traffic. The judge, however, should send the driver — all drivers of dangerous machines — a message.

Technorati Tags: crazy drivers, pedestrian safety

Keri Caffrey, of Commute Orlando, updated her Facebook page today with a link to the Time article above and this message:

I think the heart of this is the mindless state in which people function most of the time. Look around, they’re mindless in the mall, the grocery store, the office… putting that mindlessness in “control” of a 3000lb missile makes it deadly. So, as much as the car culture itself is a problem, I think this is deeper than that.

When Mighk and I did the pedestrian videos, car after car after car blew past him while he stood in the middle of Edgeater Dr., in the crosswalk, pointing at the crosswalk. That’s not malicious, it’s checked out, unconscious, comatose… whoTF is driving?

So the question arises: How do we encourage mindfulness?

The usual ideas:

1) Change the design of the streets (e.g. complete streets).

2) Make traffic penalties really hurt.

3) Make the car culture uncool.

How do we make people care about how they drive (care about others first) rather than care about their own tender convenience?

(Hmmmmm… Springfield believes itself to be the buckle of the Bible Belt. How would Jesus drive? Would He drive? What would He drive?  Who would Jesus hit and run? Would He ride a bicycle or walk? Take public transportation?)

UPDATE: Check out this video from Limited Warren T. (Hat tip to a Cyclelicious tweet)

UPDATE: I’m reading a new book now that is about how we might change the “car system” to a more carbon-friendly system. It’s called After The Car. I’ll post a review when I’m finished reading — a few days.

UPDATE: No sooner do I mention the Bible Belt than I discover what folks are doing — sustainable transportation as a Christian ministry. Check out Bicycle Recycle of Branson.

Technorati Tags: car culture, crazy drivers, cycling, pedestrian safety