Cross posted from https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/48140868
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/32023094
The one hyper-specific way the US is more pedestrian friendly than Europe. Our roads are so excessively wide with so much parking space that drivers are rarely tempted to park on the sidewalk.
If only we weren’t worse off in literally every other way.
I have definitely seen plenty of assholes parking on the sidewalk in the US.
With the exception of inside major cities, especially the old ones on the East coast which predate the mass adoption of cars. I had to travel to Philadelphia a few weeks ago for something and fuckin’ hell. I may as well have been in Bengaluru. Apparently we park anywhere, ignore all traffic signals and directives, and driving on the correct side of the street is completely optional now. I would not attempt to walk any distance there without being equipped with one of those bubble balls like Jackie Chan had in Operation Condor and preferably also a large firearm. Or possibly a bazooka.
major cities are an anomaly and should not be counted
I am telling you for 100% fact: People absolutely park like assholes (including on sidewalks and bike lanes) throughout the US from BFE to Atlanta to Wheeling to D.C. to Jupiter New York City to Vegas. I have lived there my entire life and visited numerous places throughout the country.
There might be some places where it gets policed better but that doesn’t stop people everywhere. I just yelled at a guy for parking his truck on the sidewalk last week and I live in a small city.
I think this is a problem only in some parts of europe (probably mostly the UK actually). Where I live it is extremely rare to see cars parked on the sidewalk because you will get fined 200€ and your wheel will get clamped; in fact I don’t think I’ve been ever inconvenienced by an illegally parked car at all since moving here.
Of course sometimes the municipality can do car-brained stuff and make the sidewalk really narrow to make room for on-street parking, which sucks. But at least usually you can fit through the sidewalk even with a stroller.
Yeah makes sense since Europe is a whole continent, I probably shouldn’t have generalized so much.
The world is a big place.
Yeah pedestrians just get killed on driveways by drivers who can’t be assed to open their goddamn eyes. Driving on U.S. roads is so ridiculously easy if you bother to pay attention. There’s so much space and visibility.
Eh I actually think driving is a very cognitively difficult task. This sort of “why can’t people just drive correctly” mentality is part of car propaganda. Make everyone believe the system is fine, it’s just those bad people that are the problem. Then rather than changing the system you just try to punish the bad people harshly enough. Which really doesn’t achieve much given that the vast majority of collisions don’t involve a conscious decision to do anything nefarious.
yeah it boggles my mind how much the typical person just glosses over how dangerous motor vehicles are. Its the most likely way to get injured and the most likely way someone may injure another. its like firing a gun in the air every so often.
Oh it is mentally engaging. It’s also much easier on American roads.
Again, this very much depends on the road. It is not universally true. Go driving in West Virginia for a few days if you disagree and you’ll find out not all US roads are created equal.
That may well be true, I’ve never driven in Europe since there was no reason to.
The driving experience varies wildly depending on where in the US you’re driving, I assure you: There are plenty of dangerous and very badly designed roads in America.
Never treat driving as easy, even if it feels easy (I have felt what you’re describing but another word for it is just complacent). Driving very likely the most dangerous thing you do on a regular basis by a wide margin, even if it doesn’t feel like it.
Oh yeah the 180° yields are terrible (two roads merging at effectively the same angle with one yielding)
Driving is dangerous. And easy, at least on freeways.
Atleast where I love parking on the sidewalk is a quick way to get toed.
The US is a big, diverse place.
Yeah, people always forget it’s kinda 50ish countries in a trench coat. Shit, it’s like 80-90% the size of the whole EU if I remember correctly.
😮💨
