Hoping that the investigation into this "accident" is thorough... its hard to imagine how the driver would not be held criminally negligent based on the eye witness account I read in the Chronicle Herald; sun was in the drivers' eyes at 2:45 pm while travelling north? yea right!
Great opinion piece Natalie! I never go to the Emera Oval because (in order of importance):
-after growing up skating on the >10km long Rideau Canal every year, it seems a little absurd to skate around in circles over and over again.
-it is usually too crowded
-The music there sucks, I can't stand listening to blaring country and classic rock
-It is called the "Emera Oval", a corporation which I detest
-There is no good food to eat there
I hope that Food Wolf and the other vendors get to set up at the Oval next season! Perhaps you could even get the music turned off or changed! Those two changes would double the chances that I would go to the Emera Oval next year.
Nice to see this issue getting coverage, but I wish that the article was about the root causes of pedestrians getting hit, rather than a technical debunking of each intersection by authors who aren't technically trained.
The root problems of marginalization of pedestrians and other non-car road users could begin to be addressed by:
- Get rid of flashing yellow crosswalks. Install red lights at all crosswalks: this is the only way drivers are guaranteed to stop. Think about it, why the hell do we use a flashing yellow? It makes no sense.
- Mandatory minimum fines and/or sentencing for hitting pedestrians in crosswalks, cyclists in bike lanes, etc.
- Make the fines associated with ALL traffic violations based on the VEHICLE MOMENTUM and severity of infraction. This would create an incentive for motorists to switch to lighter more efficient vehicles and slow down at the same time.
-->That way if you run a red light in a delivery truck or bus, you will get a ticket that is proportional to the amount of damage you could have potentially done, and pedestrians/cyclists would get extremely cheap tickets, reflecting the disproportionate risk they are exposed to as road users.
For someone with 8916 comments on this site alone, I would have expected a more poignant response from you. But I guess its understandable, what with all the social upheaval going on these days all around you. It must be tough on your fingers (not to mention keyboard) being a social dinosaur addicted to sardonic commentary on social movements that cannot be stopped. Too many hippies, never enough half-assed references eh?
Keep on commenting though! Maybe one day someone will actually give a shit about what you have to say and you can have your views published in the coast like me!
Self-righteousness isn't the correct term. It's simply righteousness (millions of people around the world feel the way I do, therefore it is a group righteousness that extends beyond the self).
The eviction of Occupy NS protesters was shameful, effective, and predictable. Of course it was shut down. It was a quickly evolving public forum representing a different model of decision making based on anti-oppression and community empowerment. This model presented a clear threat to the cesspool of democratic plurality we have in its place and was therefore not to be tolerated by the so-called 1% and those loyal to them. Its called consensus based decision making - it's an anarchist thing.
Recent Comments
-after growing up skating on the >10km long Rideau Canal every year, it seems a little absurd to skate around in circles over and over again.
-it is usually too crowded
-The music there sucks, I can't stand listening to blaring country and classic rock
-It is called the "Emera Oval", a corporation which I detest
-There is no good food to eat there
I hope that Food Wolf and the other vendors get to set up at the Oval next season! Perhaps you could even get the music turned off or changed! Those two changes would double the chances that I would go to the Emera Oval next year.
The root problems of marginalization of pedestrians and other non-car road users could begin to be addressed by:
- Get rid of flashing yellow crosswalks. Install red lights at all crosswalks: this is the only way drivers are guaranteed to stop. Think about it, why the hell do we use a flashing yellow? It makes no sense.
- Mandatory minimum fines and/or sentencing for hitting pedestrians in crosswalks, cyclists in bike lanes, etc.
- Make the fines associated with ALL traffic violations based on the VEHICLE MOMENTUM and severity of infraction. This would create an incentive for motorists to switch to lighter more efficient vehicles and slow down at the same time.
-->That way if you run a red light in a delivery truck or bus, you will get a ticket that is proportional to the amount of damage you could have potentially done, and pedestrians/cyclists would get extremely cheap tickets, reflecting the disproportionate risk they are exposed to as road users.
For someone with 8916 comments on this site alone, I would have expected a more poignant response from you. But I guess its understandable, what with all the social upheaval going on these days all around you. It must be tough on your fingers (not to mention keyboard) being a social dinosaur addicted to sardonic commentary on social movements that cannot be stopped. Too many hippies, never enough half-assed references eh?
Keep on commenting though! Maybe one day someone will actually give a shit about what you have to say and you can have your views published in the coast like me!
http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/bicycle-buf…
http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/happy-trail…
http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/culture-jam…
http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/second-worl…
It IS socio-politically relevant, dipshit.