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submitted 2 months ago by NomNom@feddit.uk to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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[-] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 167 points 2 months ago

I can already hear the carbrainrotten screaming "But thats dangerous, what if i run into it" as if the danger wasnt their own fault for going too fast and not yielding.

[-] untorquer@quokk.au 84 points 2 months ago

They might get a few scratches from those flimsy flexible plastics but it's not dangerous.

They'll definitely compassion about the possibility for scratches screaming, "that could damage my property!" though.

[-] lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.org 41 points 2 months ago

Make them metal bars that rise up, like those that are placed at the entrance of some stores to deter vehicular raid. That will quickly make them re-evaluate.

[-] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 33 points 2 months ago
[-] lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 2 months ago

Thank you! Learned a new word.

[-] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

Yeah make them reinforced barriers.

[-] CannonFodder@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago

I'd be more worried about them coming back down on pedestrians.

[-] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 31 points 2 months ago

Yeah ofc this specific implementation was just supposed to be an art piece i guess. In practice you just have to use those concrete pillars or ramps that come out of the ground.

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[-] thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world 88 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

it's cute and all, but the real reason they don't stop is because the authorities aren't enforcing that law effectively. the places where people stop crosswalks do so because they'll get a ticket if they don't.

this may raise awareness, but won't change behavior in the long run.

when i lived more in the city and didn't own a car i would make hard eye contact with drivers when crossing. my logic was that if they kill me I'll at least haunt their dreams with that look.

[-] JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org 31 points 2 months ago

You can do the same thing without cops more cheaply in the long run. Just raising the crosswalks to sidewalk height completely changes driver behavior, as it's both a speed bump, and it's clearly communicated that the crosswalk is the pedestrians' territory that the driver is crossing through.

We can deal with most of these issue through design rather than a threat of fines.

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[-] khannie@lemmy.world 27 points 2 months ago

Cyclists have a name for that and I think it's something like "the life saving look". Usually used when changing lanes or at an intersection.

[-] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

As a cyclist it was mainly for me to make sure the driver saw me.

As a pedestrian I do it were I am living nowadays when I'm about to cross the road on a pedestrian crossing, but that's mainly because around here people's behavior is mainly moderated by public shame and drivers tend to feel anonymous behind the wheel, so the point of looking at the other person rather than the car is to get them to feel seen and judged.

Can't be sure if this latter use of looking actually works, but the one I do as a cyclist definitely works and has saved me from accidents multiple times, for example from drivers coming from a side-street into a T-junction and not looking properly hence not seeing me on a bicycle coming towards them on the main street.

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[-] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 14 points 2 months ago

That's a very outdated view of traffic engineering and psychology. People (and animals in general) don't stop doing things in response to punishment unless they have a very high chance of expected punishment, way higher that any society could afford in case of traffic control.

If you want people to stop, you've got to build the infrastructure in a way that makes it psychologically natural to stop. Some paint on an otherwise Amercan road won't do shit. You've got to visually and physically narrow the space for drivers to make it uncomfortable or even damaging for them to pass through at unsafe speed.

That low speed is also slow enough that drivers don't feel like they're losing as much by stopping, making them feel like stopping for pedestrians is a lot more fair.

Look at Dutch traffic engineering standards for pedestrian crossings. They're a car-centric country that puts a lot of effort into getting cars everywhere in a relatively safe way.

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[-] pemptago@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 months ago

I'm not convinced it's all about enforcement. In Portland, Oregon, there's not much threat of enforcement but cars stop at the slightest hint of a pedestrian crossing anywhere. Not sure how they pulled it off but there it's a culture thing, not enforcement.

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[-] ivanvector@piefed.ca 72 points 2 months ago

Many drivers won't stop unless they're forced to by a physical barrier, and some still won't stop. Ever seen those videos from Europe of bus lane bollards that retract when a bus approaches and pop back up again after the bus passes, and the cars wrecked on them? Those are much more solid barriers than these plastic things.

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[-] JizzmasterD@lemmy.ca 64 points 2 months ago

It’s cute but this is from the same province that would rather blame immigrant drivers for road fatalities than the failing, inconsistent infrastructure and terrible driver training.

In Montreal, the drivers are bad enough that turning right on red lights was banned because we couldn’t stop killing pedestrians.

[-] JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org 16 points 2 months ago

As a headsup, pedestrian deaths at crossings is consistently higher in places where right on red is legal. It's not bad drivers, it's a bad law enabling bad driving.

[-] No_Maines_Land@lemmy.ca 16 points 2 months ago

Montréal never banned right on red.

No right on red was the default, then most of Canada enabled right on red in the 1970, but Québec did not. Québec later enabled right on red by default in 2003, but Montréal (island) retained no right on red.

And RToR is bad everywhere. We'veknow it for a long time, but have jsut collectivelydecoded the cost was worth it. Here's an article from Victoira in 1981 talking about it https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107821508/times-colonist-victoria-may-5-1981/

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[-] WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 35 points 2 months ago

Some places know their drivers and have some serious barriers popping up.

[-] reabsorbthelight@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago

I kind want to see what that does to a car that doesn't stop. Probably rips their front wheels off

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[-] JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world 33 points 2 months ago

Imagine if all painted infrastructure did this haha.

Right at the end there it shows a side effect of this installation that by itself is useful in bringing the cars to a reasonable speed when approaching the crosswalk every time, not just when there's a pedestrian: the crossing is raised.

Off the top of my head I can't remember how common raised crossings are in Montréal, but they are effective. This demonstration is quite fun though, I was expecting a bunch of body guards to pop out and create a wall across the roadway and the instant fence caught me off guard.

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[-] OddMinus1@sh.itjust.works 25 points 2 months ago

I was expecting this to be the "carry a brick"-trick.

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[-] pedz@lemmy.ca 24 points 2 months ago

Except that it will take much more than this to 'motivate' any car brain here to actually stop. Those stopping for pedestrian crossings here are the exception. So much so that some towns "don't know what to do" about it and ask pedestrians to wave orange flags to cross busy streets.

[-] Emma_Gold_Man@lemmy.dbzer0.com 72 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)
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[-] mech@feddit.org 43 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Carry a closed umbrella and hold it out in front of you as you approach the crossing.
This triggers the car brain's panic button, since it would scratch their paint if they hit it, which is much, much worse than endangering a human.

[-] BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 23 points 2 months ago

I had to calm myself down when I realized how right you were and how fucked up that is.

[-] mech@feddit.org 19 points 2 months ago

I'm sorry if this uncalms you again, but I find it hilarious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ0HBd_u-Fs
Really shows that drivers do see you approaching a crosswalk but just decide to ignore you, unless you equalize the power imbalance.

[-] ivanvector@piefed.ca 11 points 2 months ago

We have those where I live. Crosswalk compliance is decent here, but these don't get anyone to stop who wasn't going to stop anyway, and they get stolen all the time.

[-] Randelung@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago

Carry a brick.

[-] Eddbopkins@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

In NYC you'll get a ticket if you stop for pedestrian crossings. I got a ticket for stoping and letting a pedestrian cross the road.

[-] AceBonobo@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

Which law does that break?

[-] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 months ago

“Gotta fill my quota”

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[-] fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 months ago

In France, these days, you lose your license. Period. I don't know what the results have been though, but I think it's a fairly good approach.

[-] TronBronson@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago

Man I remember when they used to take away peoples licenses in the USA. Good times. It’s like the only way you can get people to recognize that it’s a privilege and not a divine right is by taking it away.

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[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

Only enforcement will help. And consequences.

[-] Steve@communick.news 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

There are plenty of structural changes that can help.
Raised crosswalks are a major one.

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[-] 48954246@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago

I prefer the bucket of bricks one over this marketing stunt

[-] Bysmuth@lemmy.zip 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Am i the only one that finds this terrifying as a pedestrian? All the people in the video had to stop when they arrived at the intersection and wait for a car to allow them to cross. If someone were crossing here unaware and started crossing immediately, this thing could hit them anywhere up to the face. And that is if it doesn't have enough force to make one loose their balance or straight up catapult them. I refuse to believe this thing is actually just active and without supervision. I think they just deployed this thing for an afternoon to get the shots and coached the pedestrians. I find this anything but brilliant

[-] echodot@feddit.uk 22 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yeah obviously this is a film set. That's what PSAs are, little government adverts. They didn't deploy this on the street and they're not suggesting this as a solution to a problem. It's a fun little sort of advertisement that has been created to try and make a point.

It's like the Swedish advert from the other day.

[-] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It’s a controlled film set…Every single face you see is a unionized actor, any “candid” feelings are purely manufactured for effect.

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[-] Arigion@feddit.org 11 points 2 months ago

Is this some kind of joke I don't get? Just have a law that pedestrians on crosswalks have priority and introduce a hefty fine for cars not stopping. Works flawlessly in other countries.

How is the above "a brilliant campaign"?

[-] Sabin10@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago

It's a brilliant campaign because of lack of enforcement and entitled drivers that treat traffic laws as suggestions.

[-] jtrek@startrek.website 14 points 2 months ago

Not so brilliant for the people killed before the culture shifts, if it does at all.

[-] LePoisson@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

LMAO works flawlessly in other countries is a hilarious way to say that people still get hit by cars and are injured, or worse, in crosswalks where countries do have hefty fines for not stopping for pedestrians. Also someone would have to actually enforce that.

As a, quite sad, example - a child was killed at a crossing near a school near me when a person who wasn't paying attention ran them over in the crosswalk. Guess what, here in America where I live there is a fine and it's even more if you're in a school zone. Did not flawlessly stop that kid from dying.

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[-] daggermoon@piefed.world 10 points 2 months ago
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this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
756 points (100.0% liked)

Fuck Cars

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