Hyperreal Film Club
Austin Not Pedestrian or Biker Friendly
RECEIVED Wed., Nov. 7, 2007
Dear Editor,
Now that Austin has an ordinance forbidding pedestrians to start conversations with motorists at traffic intersections, we may reasonably hope for a law forbidding motorists from starting conversations with pedestrians and bicyclists at intersections. The latter is a larger safety problem than the former.
Some motorists ask questions (and expect answers) of bicyclists who are using all their energy to climb hills or pedestrians watching for a precious break in the flow of cars to cross the street. Some motorists don't accept it when you say you need to keep your focus on the traffic. They get mad. They say mean things. Sometimes they throw things at you.
As a pedestrian and bicyclist, I no longer talk to any motorist who has not turned off the car and gotten out of it. You cannot have a fair conversation between an armed, armored person and an unarmed, unarmored one.
In Austin so far this year, at least 18 pedestrians have been killed by cars. More than one-third of the people killed here by cars this year were people on foot. So maybe we need sidewalks. Maybe we need the modern countdown pedestrian lights like the ones in San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Chicago, Montreal, and elsewhere.
A council member interviewed by the Chronicle called Austin “pedestrian-friendly,” comparing it to Corpus Christi. Why not look at some other Texas cities? Dallas and Fort Worth have raised wooden platforms between the train tracks to help pedestrians cross. When you get off Amtrak in Austin, you cross raised metal tracks in the mud. So pedestrian-friendly!
The complacency in the face of failure is embarrassing. Sidewalks, anyone?
Now that Austin has an ordinance forbidding pedestrians to start conversations with motorists at traffic intersections, we may reasonably hope for a law forbidding motorists from starting conversations with pedestrians and bicyclists at intersections. The latter is a larger safety problem than the former.
Some motorists ask questions (and expect answers) of bicyclists who are using all their energy to climb hills or pedestrians watching for a precious break in the flow of cars to cross the street. Some motorists don't accept it when you say you need to keep your focus on the traffic. They get mad. They say mean things. Sometimes they throw things at you.
As a pedestrian and bicyclist, I no longer talk to any motorist who has not turned off the car and gotten out of it. You cannot have a fair conversation between an armed, armored person and an unarmed, unarmored one.
In Austin so far this year, at least 18 pedestrians have been killed by cars. More than one-third of the people killed here by cars this year were people on foot. So maybe we need sidewalks. Maybe we need the modern countdown pedestrian lights like the ones in San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Chicago, Montreal, and elsewhere.
A council member interviewed by the Chronicle called Austin “pedestrian-friendly,” comparing it to Corpus Christi. Why not look at some other Texas cities? Dallas and Fort Worth have raised wooden platforms between the train tracks to help pedestrians cross. When you get off Amtrak in Austin, you cross raised metal tracks in the mud. So pedestrian-friendly!
The complacency in the face of failure is embarrassing. Sidewalks, anyone?
Yours truly,
Amy Babich
Amy Babich
[Editor's note: While City Council members are still considering stricter solicitation rules, the roadside panhandling Ms. Babich describes has not been outlawed.]