My city is has two "legacy highways" that run through the downtown. Except for the neighborhood destruction, their effects are very much like those of the interstate highways that unnaturally cut through major cities.
That "passive" phrasing is mildly annoying in that it's not an either/or issue like that author is implying. Like most things in this world, there is no "one thing" that is the root cause of the nation's traffic death problem. Likely an "all of the above" approach is needed and the low hanging fruit is very much context dependent. STROADs are an obvious problem that Strong Towns deals with well. But I also think there are a number of cultural-based issues around bad driving that have nothing to do with design. In Annapolis we have plenty of pedestrian/bike/car collisions that are a result of - I'll try and say this as neutrally as possible - bad choices when operating a motor vehicle. I have some theories about why people make the choices they do (ie driving like an asshat - sorry that is not so neutral...) but it's beyond the scope of this comment and for those cases, the only think I can think that would have much influence is enforcement and rather draconian consequences. Not that we would ever do that in this country and you know the old saying about committing the perfect murder? "Run someone over with a car and drag a bike under them."
Maybe this is just the way I filtered the information, but I perceive a change in the usage of "passive measures." If I understand correctly, the older definition of "passive design" is mitigating harms for those who drive errantly or recklessly. I now also see safety advocates use "passive design" to refer to features that influence drivers into calmer and more careful driving.
My city is has two "legacy highways" that run through the downtown. Except for the neighborhood destruction, their effects are very much like those of the interstate highways that unnaturally cut through major cities.
That "passive" phrasing is mildly annoying in that it's not an either/or issue like that author is implying. Like most things in this world, there is no "one thing" that is the root cause of the nation's traffic death problem. Likely an "all of the above" approach is needed and the low hanging fruit is very much context dependent. STROADs are an obvious problem that Strong Towns deals with well. But I also think there are a number of cultural-based issues around bad driving that have nothing to do with design. In Annapolis we have plenty of pedestrian/bike/car collisions that are a result of - I'll try and say this as neutrally as possible - bad choices when operating a motor vehicle. I have some theories about why people make the choices they do (ie driving like an asshat - sorry that is not so neutral...) but it's beyond the scope of this comment and for those cases, the only think I can think that would have much influence is enforcement and rather draconian consequences. Not that we would ever do that in this country and you know the old saying about committing the perfect murder? "Run someone over with a car and drag a bike under them."
Maybe this is just the way I filtered the information, but I perceive a change in the usage of "passive measures." If I understand correctly, the older definition of "passive design" is mitigating harms for those who drive errantly or recklessly. I now also see safety advocates use "passive design" to refer to features that influence drivers into calmer and more careful driving.