Two New Authors for the New Year
I’m excited to announce that CommuteOrlando has two Authors joining to broaden the perspective we offer.
Kyle Kilgallon is a member of the amazing Colonial High School Bike Club, seen in this video. Kyle represents the next generation of adults who have an alternative and know how to use it. He will offer us his insights on cycling, first-hand accounts of the evolution of the bike bus as well as some of the other innovative and fun things the club is doing.
William Carpenter has a passion for pedestrian issues and infrastructure. William created the Mean Streets Orlando video to highlight the problems we have created for pedestrians in the Orlando metro. He was responsible for initiating the project to build the crosswalk and median refuge on Aloma between Forsyth and Lake Howell. We are all pedestrians. Orlando’s infamy as the worst city in the US for pedestrians affects all of us. William is dedicated to making our community walkable, and therefore livable.
Please join me in welcoming our new authors!
Welcome to CO! I’m looking forward to your contributions.
That “mean streets Orlando” video was quite shocking. I’m used to the horrible infrastructure of Naples. Before my father’s death, my parents spent the winters in a house they owned there. But at least Naples has sidewalks almost everywhere.
The number of deaths is shocking. If a terrorist gang were to kill that number of people every year, steps would be taken to suppress them. I fail to see why any less serious steps should be taken against violent criminal drivers.
Because the majority of drivers identify with the “terrorist group.” Most people spend some portion of their driving time in a coma or deliberately paying attention to something other than the road. We’ve engineered that into a system built for them. Most people in these Sunbelt metro areas have imprisoned themselves into long, boring, frustrating car commutes. Being mindful (let alone conscious) is just one hardship too many.
Bob Bayn summed it up beautifully on the LCI list:
“Granted, they are all nice members of the community who just happened to kill someone while doing what lots of people get away with every day – distracted driving.”
Therein lies the problem, my friend.
“Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.” — French philosopher Simone Weil
Actually it is not a lack of sidewalks which most plagues Orlando area pedestrians; it is the virtual abandonment of all our crosswalks. They are routinely ignored by motorists. Our worst corridors for pedestrian crashes have full sidewalk coverage.
Welcome, Kyle and William! I look forward to reading your thoughts.
– John, Portland Maine (“from away”, as we say here)
Mighk wrote about Orlando crosswalks: “They are routinely ignored by motorists.”
Kevin’s comment:
Not so here in Toronto. The crosswalk law is for pedestrians to point out to indicate that they wish to cross. Car drivers immediately come to a stop. They know that if they do not, Toronto Police will lay charges. Since it is a moving violation involving a vulnerable road user, that’s automatically a careless driving charge, good for up to six months in jail.
The more that I read this blog and similar materials, the more that I become convinced that a key reason why Ontario’s roads are the safest in North America is adequate law enforcement. Violent criminals are simply not tolerated by our police force in the same way that they are in Orlando.