Image Credit: Yvonne Verlinden
Recent debates about distracted walking prompted TCAT’s Yvonne Verlinden to create “The Difference Between Walking and Driving” infographic. In comparing the characteristics of people walking or driving, its clear why it makes no sense need to equate walking with driving on the spectrum of responsibility.
Children can walk, but they cannot drive. Why? Because the responsibility of operating a motor vehicle is too great. Walking, however, carries low inherent risk, even while eating an ice cream cone or staring up at the clouds.
Requiring increased pedestrian attention to improve road safety ignores the fact that many people walking, particularly the blind, are unable to fully “watch out.” On the other hand, implementing strategies to reduce speed, such as narrowing lanes and adding curb extensions, will make the streets safer everyone, including the most vulnerable.