Ways We Are Subsidizing Driving... Why?
One of my biggest frustrations with living in America is how we are almost forced to be reliant on cars. Our cities and towns are built to make driving necessary, and our laws are set up to directly encourage and subsidize driving at the expense of other ways of getting around. It is crazy and harmful and something I which we would change.
Streetsblog recently posted an article highlighting 12 ways that driving is both encouraged and subsidized by the law:
Traffic Laws Soft-Peddle Very Dangerous Behavior
Land Use Laws Favor Sprawl
Legal Parking Requirements Subsidize Driving
Emissions Laws Exempt ‘Light Trucks’
Emissions Laws Ignore the Environmental Costs of Roadbuilding
Vehicle Safety Regulations Ignore Pedestrians
Vehicle Safety Regulations Allow Unsafe Aftermarket Vehicle Modifications
Insurance Law Limits Payouts to Pedestrians
Tax Law Subsidizes Sprawl
Tort Law Protects Dangerous Drivers
Contract Law Freezes Out Pedestrians
Criminal Law Rarely Punishes Dangerous Drivers
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/03/06/heres-how-driving-is-encouraged-and-subsidized-by-law/
Considering that almost all Americans drive regularly to the point where it is habit and doesn’t earn a second thought, it is hard to get people to accept the fact that these laws can be changed and probably should be. Politicians are too afraid to lose support from drivers that they rarely consider to make changes that make driving reflect the harm it does to our cities, towns, and personal health.
Meanwhile, thousands of people are needlessly being killed every year due to dangerous road design, laws that encourage bad behavior, and the lack of enforcement for the safety laws we do have in place.
I want to live in a place where walking and cycling is treated equally with driving a private vehicle. If you can drive from any point A to any point B on a dedicated street for cars you should be able to bike from the same point A to the same point B in a dedicated lane for bikes.
We should all be working towards finding a way to make our country safer for pedestrians, bikers, transit riders, and adapt our laws to focus on safety, health, and encourage sustainable transport. Why do we put up with an incredibly dangerous, harmful, and dirty means of getting around? There are better ways and it will just take a bit of political will to make needed changes.
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