Raise the Hammer
Our culture's obsession with the automobile and unchecked reverence to it is killing us, our loved ones and our children, and we don't care.
By Tom Flood
Published December 04, 2020
Our culture's obsession with the automobile and unchecked reverence to it is killing us, our loved ones and our children, and we don't care.
We say we care, but when it comes time to make real change and decisions, we don't. We actually need non-profit organizations to advocate to adults in leadership positions to provide safe routes for people (kids) on bikes and those who walk. Think about that. My God, what have we done?
And if for some reason you dare to care, you are automatically labelled as some outsider radical or anti-car, a connection that is such a damning incitement on our failure as a society.
And these narratives are fueled by people in council who thrive on divisiveness.
We have decided that the speedy movement of vehicular traffic is all that matters. This has been shown time and time again in our policies, our infrastructure, the narrative at City Council and the constant politicization of all movement outside of the car.
Then it happens. A life is ripped away from us, and we hear the same old rhetoric about thoughts and prayers around this horrible "accident."
These aren't "accidents", these are results.
These horrifying murders are the result of years of willful negligence. Years of voting down motions to make things safer. Years of opposing human-centric design. Years of politicizing all movement outside the car. Years of limited regulation on vehicles. Years of failed enforcement. Years of a culture of rush and speed. Years of unquestioned allegiance to the automobile.
These aren't "accidents", these are results produced by a broken and failed system that preys on the most vulnerable persons on our roads.
Despite all these massive obstacles, our cities still have a choice to make things better, but they continually choose not to. Our city could have chosen life, but we chose cars.
We need to make change now on our streets, no matter what the cost. Far too many families have found out the cost of not making real change, and it's incalculable and unimaginable. They have paid the ultimate, irreplaceable price.
It's on you, City Councillors and others in leadership. You know who you are. The safety of our children, your children and our collective community is 100 percent in your power to choose.
These aren't "accidents", these are the results of willful negligence.
By cameronkroetsch (registered) | Posted December 04, 2020 at 13:16:47
Thank you for this Tom. It's truly a gift to have your voice in our community.
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