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Re:Waymo Hits Cyclist in SF by lex-lightning on Wednesday February 07, 2024 @11:18PM (#39298068)
That’s such a low bar though. Zero is achievable.

Part of it is to slow cars down and take more cars off the road rather than changing who drives.

Invest in public transit, redesign problematic infrastructure, and create mixed use urban areas so people don’t feel the need to travel through a city.

A city should be a safe place. More deaths in a slower zone than on freeways is preposterous. I understand the reasons why this is true, but the deeper reasons for the reasons are that we gave up.

Fewer, less deadly automobiles is what the goal really should be.

Re:Waymo Hits Cyclist in SF by petesergeant on Wednesday February 07, 2024 @11:41PM (#39298248)
> A city should be a safe place

Is that a fundamental attribute of a city?

Re:Waymo Hits Cyclist in SF by illirik on Thursday February 08, 2024 @01:49AM (#39299041)
Of course; that's why our ancestors first built walls around granaries.
Re:Waymo Hits Cyclist in SF by lex-lightning on Thursday February 08, 2024 @01:41PM (#39305768)
I’ll go deeper still. It’s why we’re social animals. Trust is the foundation of secure relationships and secure relationships keep us safe. Cities wouldn’t exist if it were every man for themself.

Yeah, for sure I believe that cities, walls, friendships, food chains, economies, armies, language… this all rests on meeting the basic human needs of shelter (security from elements and hostile actors), food (security from starvation), community (security of a support network).

Re:Waymo Hits Cyclist in SF by lex-lightning on Thursday February 08, 2024 @01:35PM (#39305688)
I’ll grant that this was a statement of a value I personally hold, an ethical axiom which I can’t convince you of. Fair.

Would you care to present a your own views? Or to dispute the reasoning that follows from my stated values?

If not, then we aren’t going to agree. I’m very much in favor of streets not being designed like the video game Frogger. Listen, I like snowboarding; adrenaline is a blast. But I don’t know why getting groceries has to be an adrenaline rush.

I’m making a joke. I’m coming into this debate with established opinions. But even if you’re not going to win me over, the floor is yours to persuade future readers that speed and carrying capacity are more important than safety. Or to argue that I’m presenting a false dichotomy.

What I don’t find acceptable is accepting the status quo just because it’s the status quo.