Tesla Cybertruck’s stiff structure, sharp design raise safety concerns - experts::The angular design of Tesla’s Cybertruck has safety experts concerned that the electric pickup truck’s stiff stainless-steel exoskeleton could hurt pedestrians and cyclists.
Cars made of metal do more damage when running down pedestrians than cars made of nerf do. Is the solution to make all cars out of nerf, or to stop running down pedestrians?
The correct answer is to copy the netherlands in every possible way. You add physical impediments to your transit corridor to make it safer for people and cars to coexist.
Grade separated bike and walk lanes.
Sidewalks that are contiguous, i.e dont dip down to the level of the street. If the sidewalk stays level, pedestrians and bikes cross faster while the sidewalk serves as an inante speed bump where pedestrian traffic crosses roads.
No right on red. This is a leading cause of pedestrian/bike impacts.
Traffic lights not across the road, but next to the road. This keeps driver vision focused in front of their car where pedestrian cross, not looking far off.
Narrow driving lanes. These force cars to slow down, lowering pedestrian impact speeds which drastically reduce mortality. This goes hand in hand with seperated bike/walk lanes.
Real pedestrian islands in wide roads that favor pedestrian crossings. They need to be deisgned for safety and be biased for pedestrians crossing.
Almost like putting the pedestrian first. Unfortunately that is the opposite of America. In good ol USA the car has right of way. That’s why you have jaywalking as a crime. In other parts of the world the pedestrian has right of way and so car has to stop for them.
Would need to upend the whole American system
How do you accommodate for people in wheelchairs? That’s why they dip in the U.S.
They go straight across the road in the Netherlands for streets that cross sidewalks. They dont dip down, so all wheelchair users can just continue on the sidewalk as is.
The sidewalk that intersects the road is a smooth curve. To enter the sidewalk in a wheelchair, you just roll up the smooth curve like a car would. The bump is aggressive ebough to slow down a car, but not so aggressive a person in a wheelchair would have any issues with it.
Heres a great link about how they work. One of the best urban design youtubers as well, by the by.
I agree with this, however I suppose accidents will be inevitable.