Mission: To promote driving less so all may live more.
I know, Holy Bollards sounds a bit blasphemous and a bit vulgar, but it’s neither.
bollard | ˈbɒlɑːd, ˈbɒləd |
noun
1 British a short post used to prevent traffic from entering an area.
2 a short, thick post on the deck of a ship or a quayside, to which a ship's rope may be secured.
To those of us who travel on bike or foot near cars and trucks, a bollard can become a holy thing. So, yes, “up with bollards”! This might become my new mission statement.
The rest of this post consists of a few Twitter tweets concerning bollards—all interesting to me, and many humorous if you are not the person driving the car.
Originally, this post had many more tweets, but they take too long to load. The leftover tweets will be included, one at a time, at the end of future posts—something to look forward to!
Among various uses, bollards are used to regulate traffic in some countries. Wonderfully effective, except for impatient or inattentive drivers:
One change, however, that is likely to persist (likely to succeed), are the streets that have been closed to cars in order to gain space for outdoor dining for cafes and restaurants. Welcome, Low Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs).
According to the article on Louisville, Main Street will be open to (un-endangered) pedestrians and outdoor tables “April 26 through Nov. 1” (similar to the summer of 2020). Let’s take what we can get.
Not so close to my home, opening streets in Scotland is going well:
Not only streets with eateries, but streets with schools are being blocked off, often to dozens of SUVs that drive less than a mile to get the kids to and from school. Many kids bike on their own, but they can also relax in a trailer (and let the parents do the work):
Back to school for many today ? Walk, bike or scoot to enjoy the route ☃️ How many kids do you think a bike can carry- did you know a Winther cargo can carry 4 kids? Just think how fit you'll be by Summer ? if you travel by cargo bike ?? pic.twitter.com/nmFip2yiaf
— Dutch Cycling Embassy (@Cycling_Embassy) April 14, 2021
Nor should it be (but it is to me) a surprise about Finland:
in Helsinki we were discussing Safe Routes to School programs in the US and one of our group asked, “What’s that?” In Finland all kids have a safe way to school. W/transit, walking or biking. At this Oulu school, 1000 of 1200 students ride their bikes in winter. #srts#finlandpic.twitter.com/8I1AOFb6Ez
And, of course, it’s not only people who need un-endangered transit on streets—this street being again in Nederland:
I happily waited on my bicycle for this young family to cross the street. My camera took a while to start so they had almost made it to the other side once I finally took the picture ? pic.twitter.com/HUw9Ubx8NH
Mission: To promote driving less so all may live more.
The New Commuter Frustration
In the previous Incidents #1, I led with a biking fatality. This time I’ll mend my ways and start out on a happier note, wrapping up with a pedestrian fatality. I’m sorry, but as a serious pedestrian (a luxury, I know, although I used to run 8 miles to work…so I’m not fully unqualified to speak)…ahem, as a serious pedestrian, I have a privileged point of view on how the tire and engine noise, size, and sheer mass of cars is disproportionate to the tiny beings they transport, insulating the beings from the true external effects of the vehicles. Ok, said that.
During the first covid–19 surge last Spring, birds could be heard in cities, nature began to clap her hands, and self-propelled people breathed a sigh of relief. With this current surge, not so, at all. And, yes, the economy needs lots of people to commute to work and shop.
Happily, a new but different problem has arisen that belies a psychological demand, not an economic one. In a recent article in The Washington Post, we discover that,
Even when Shayne Swift works from home, the high school principal ends her day behind the wheel of her forest-green Jeep Liberty, chatting by phone with family and friends.
But Swift isn’t driving. Usually, she said, she sits parked in her driveway in Northwest Washington — the closest she often gets to something she has dearly missed during the pandemic: her commute.[1]
In the case of Shayne Swift, the psychological need for cars would be on my side. After all, cars are great as mini-houses that are probably safer than a huge home during a lightening storm. In addition, a few good speakers and a good stereo can sound better than much more expensive equipment in a big home.
The rest of the article details how some kind of distance (more temporal than spatial) is genuinely helpful to insulate people from feeling like captives either at home or at work. Walking from one’s bedroom to one’s study and back, along with the need to nurture children, just does not provide a break.
If sitting in one’s driveway is too conspicuous (to the family members), drive halfway around the block or to the neighborhood park. Want to use your cell phone in your car? This is the perfect way. Talk or text away. The American love affair with cars can be consummated safely, inexpensively, and with a small carbon footprint.
Another Obituary Item, Sorry to Report
The web site of the Denver television station KDVR reports that on January 19th, 2021, Chris Baker, 36, was crossing Federal near 70th when he was fatally hit by a car that promptly drove away. Fortunately for the wheels of justice, several people reported the driver’s identity to the police and he was later arrested.[2] The article continues, “The crash was the third hit-and-run on Federal Boulevard since the new year, and the second to turn deadly.”
We know that this street is dangerous by design, and these deaths are going to continue to happen until we make changes to the street. . . . Every single traffic fatality, it’s not just a number, it’s a person, who had friends and family members who mourn that loss, and it just breaks my heart, because I know we can prevent that hurt from happening in our community.
The good news is that Denver Streets Partnership is a coalition looking out for the self-propelled. May they be blessed in their work. 36-year old, Chris Baker
Mission: To promote driving less so all may live more.
The honeymoon is over: even a pandemic cannot clear the streets for long. I know, I know, it’s a sign that national economies are surviving. But, my, for those who spend most of their time on their feet or on their bikes, the quiet, clear streets were wonderful.
Mission: To promote driving less so all may live more.
This post offers some quotes from Peter Sagal’s The Incomplete Book of Running (2018), a confessional book, both humorous and insightful. covers: Incomplete Book of Running Continue reading “Wait, Wait, Peter, Don’t Run From Me”
Mission: To promote driving less so all may live more.
When Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, announces his marriage to Hamlet’s mother, he (an incestuous, murderous villain) has the political wherewithal to admit the timing of the wedding wasn’t ideal, since it came “With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage.” So much more must I lament the fact that the mission statement for this web log is being realized around the world. People are driving less so all may live more.
It would be absurd to talk about the silver lining of the present pandemic (or, as it is redundantly called, the “global pandemic”). The cost is too high and, really, the effects will probably be short lived. Two days ago, a barrel of crude oil was worth negative $35 or so; today you must pay upward of $20 or so for the same barrel. This pandemic too will pass.
In the mean time, however, it is worth pointing out that here on earth (on Earth Day, also) the virus has given us a picture of what the world could look like if people chose to drive less instead being forced by legal mandate to drive less. Continue reading “Covitality – Signs of Life on Earth Day”
Mission: To promote driving less so all may live more.
I was pretty sure I had invented all those words, but that’s not the case. Covidiocy refers to people who make inane statements or perform inane actions relative to covid-19. Covidity refers to having a proclivity toward respecting the guidelines for slowing down the spread of the virus. Covidity has its own Facebook page. Covitality predates covid-19. It is a kind of therapy for adolescents (especially). It phonetically contrasts with co-dependence. In Person vs. Automobile, however, I give it a new meaning. Continue reading “Covidiocy, Covidity, Covitality”
Mission: To promote driving less so all may live more.
He owns a very nice bike helmet, he says, and even wears it if he needs to ride in gnarly traffic. However, with dedicated bike lanes, such as along the West Side of New York City, he lets his (now) gray hair blow in the wind. He doesn’t want to unnecessarily risk “helmet hair.”[1] David Byrne on bike, nice helmet in basket (from NY Times interview on Youtube ) Continue reading “David Byrne (Talking Heads) and His Bicycle”
Mission: To promote driving less so all may live more.
Road Rage
While I enjoy embedding a good video in a post, I will spare you any road-rage videos, although if you search YouTube on “road rage compilation,” you can view to your heart’s delight, or until your stomach turns (as mine did). However, because it captures so much of the road-rage mental state, this animated video by Your Favorite Martianis worth a view (it would get an E for explicit lyrics on iTunes, so, kids, you might not want to play it for your parents). Continue reading “Road, Rage, and Peace”
