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Zvi (and others),<br><br>
In a course I teach I used to assign a good article on the history of the
evolution of motorist-pedestrian regulation in Canada: Davies, Stephen.
1989. "'Reckless Walking Must Be Discouraged': The Automobile
Revolution and the Shaping of Modern Urban Canada to 1930", pp.
123-134 in <i>Urban History Review</i>. XVIII:2. October. If you are
interested in knowing how to obtain a copy, please let me know off-list
by emailing me at townsend@alcor.concordia.ca.<br><br>
Craig<br><br>
<br>
At 12:35 PM 14/07/2010, Zvi Leve wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">When considering the traffic and
pedestrian situation in India and many<br>
other rapidly motorizing places, it is worth recalling the little
known<br>
history of how similar events played out in North America almost a
century<br>
ago. There is an excellent book by Peter Norton called 'Fighting
Traffic:<br>
The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American<br>
City<<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Traffic-American-Inside-Technology/product-reviews/0262141000/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1" eudora="autourl">
http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Traffic-American-Inside-Technology/product-reviews/0262141000/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1</a>
>'<br>
which documents this struggle quite extensively.<br><br>
Ironically, it was the push for pedestrian safety which eventually led to
a<br>
shift in attitudes about 'uncontrolled' pedestrian circulation, and to
paved<br>
the way to the acceptance that 'roads are for cars'.<br><br>
Will history repeat itself?<br><br>
Zvi<br><br>
On 14 July 2010 12:12, Ian Perry <ianenvironmental@googlemail.com>
wrote:<br><br>
> How do the English English names, Pelican Crossing, Puffin Crossing
and<br>
> Chicken Crossing, and are known to millions of people in the UK and
India,<br>
> cause so much upset on this forum?<br>
><br>
> The original question referred to the possibility of installing
pelican<br>
> crossings (pedestrian crossings on streets, controlled by traffic
lights)<br>
> in<br>
> Hyderabad, India.<br>
><br>
> I live in a wonderful UK city where there are traffic lights, many
with<br>
> pedestrian crossing facilities on almost every street. I watch
people live<br>
> their lives sat stationary in cars waiting for it to be their turn
to drive<br>
> their car past the green light as fast as possible. Only
sometimes does<br>
> this result in an "accident".<br>
><br>
> Meanwhile, pedestrians don't want to walk to the nearest crossing,
but<br>
> cross<br>
> where they are, taking the shortest route - even if this means
climbing<br>
> over<br>
> guardrails. If pedestrians do use the crossings with traffic
lights, often<br>
> they cross before the green light is shown to them. So England
and the<br>
> rest<br>
> of the UK has spent millions of pounds on pedestrian lights that
people<br>
> don't use! Even Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has
realised<br>
> the folly of having so many traffic lights!<br>
><br>
> In the Netherlands and UK, we are spending money to remove
pedestrian<br>
> crossings and other sets of traffic lights - so is it so wrong of me
to<br>
> suggest denying pedestrian crossings with traffic lights to those
in<br>
> countries that have not realised for themselves the perils of
such<br>
> expensive<br>
> technological solutions to traffic?<br>
><br>
> Traffic lights treat the symptoms of the chaos on our streets, and
not the<br>
> causes. The causes include the inappropriate vehicles we are
using - and<br>
> the expectation that people should use them to access services
and<br>
> facilities.<br>
><br>
> In most parts of the world people do mostly obey traffic lights,
though the<br>
> colour blind, tired and distracted sometimes fail to stop, hitting
those<br>
> who<br>
> assumed that they could use the junction safely due to a green light
in<br>
> their direction. This is not the case in all places, including
Italy and<br>
> Spain! Motorists in these countries frequently ignore traffic
lights -<br>
> rather like Parisian motorists ignore the existence of pedestrians
on<br>
> marked<br>
> pedestrian crossings - at least that was my perception.<br>
><br>
> What India has (minus the rubbish/garbage/trash) is what many in
Europe<br>
> want<br>
> our streets to be like. Would these roadsides be cleaner if it
was not for<br>
> the traffic making the space uncomfortable for people?<br>
><br>
> Rather than make Hyderabad resemble LA - just as peak oil arrives,
and most<br>
> of the word realise that LA is a mistake... better solutions
are required.<br>
><br>
><br>
> >From what I've seen of Hyderabad on YouTube... Would
narrowing the<br>
> carriageways and removing larger vehicles be possible? Larger
vehicles<br>
> include larger private vehicles, goods vehicles and buses...
Buses kill<br>
> too<br>
> many people, especially in India! Trams are much safer, as
their movement<br>
> is predictable... and trams can carry goods. Smaller goods
vehicles or<br>
> restricting goods vehicles to certain times could be an option -
and<br>
> freight<br>
> consolidation could work in India?<br>
><br>
> Traffic lights and restricting pedestrians to specified crossings
are not<br>
> the answer - pedestrians have the right to the whole street - and
this<br>
> means<br>
> crossing where it is convenient for them - otherwise they'll get
into a car<br>
> instead...<br>
><br>
> "Jay" walking is a good activity - though I know this will
upset some<br>
> people!<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> Best wishes to all<br>
><br>
> Ian Perry<br>
> --------------------------------------------------------<br>
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><br>
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