Maybe I Was Wrong...

Sometimes you can feel like a broken record, trying to preach the same message over and over and over again.  Sometimes you wonder if your message is actually getting through.  And then, sometimes, you realize your message might have been off-kilter.

You see, I've been on a "can't we all just get along" kick when it comes to Calgary's on-going pedestrians vs. cyclists vs. motorists battle royale.  I thought if everyone would just look after each other, we'd be able to co-exist.  Peace is free, I would say.  Maybe I was wrong.

I thought maybe if we finally got the cycle track in place, we'd finally have some real data rather than depend so much on hypotheses and innuendo.  Or maybe city council could do something to be less-divisive and more-educational in getting everyone on the same page.  Maybe I was wrong.

What has made me see the light is the on-going battle between pedestrians and motorists.  You see, city council is mulling over the idea of spending $50,000 on a pilot project where lights would be embedded into the ground to draw even more attention to the fact that drivers are entering a pedestrian crosswalk.  Seems like an interesting idea.  And don't get me wrong.  I'm all for making it safer for everyone out there.

Yet, that's where things get hairy.  It really didn't take any time at all for detractors to say this was a waste of money.  Instead of talking about the need to make things safer for pedestrians and everyone else, some people ignored that and talked about how much they would be inconvenienced.  Or how much the city is spending.  Or on the flipside, how drivers are the root of all evil on the roads.  Or that we have to do something to get the attention of drivers back on the road, to actually have them pay attention.

Once again, we're back into the pedestrians vs. cyclists vs. motorists debate.  I ended up getting into an interesting discussion on Twitter (you can follow me @JoeMcFarland) and eventually one of the comments made was "Basic safety is good.  But fear of every intersection is a problem."  And that's where the "Eureka" moment happened.

Maybe the problem isn't that some pedestrians aren't paying attention and looking both ways before crossing the street.  Maybe the problem isn't that some cyclists weave in and out of traffic, acting like a cross between a vehicle and a pedestrian.  Maybe the problem isn't that some motorists would rather text their friends than pay attention to the road, where they're driving a 1,000 pound metal missile.  Maybe the problem is...

Wait for it...

Maybe the problem is that we're handing out driver's licenses to people like Oprah hands out cars on her show.  Like candy at Halloween.  Like beer at Stampede.

You get the picture.

It goes beyond that though.  Maybe we need to put our foot down and say "if you do something stupid than you should punished for it."  You wanna text and drive and get into an accident, or fail to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk?  You're going to get a BIG fine.  You wanna dart out into traffic because you're drunk and wanna stop a cab from getting away and get hit?  You're going to get a BIG fine.  You wanna weave your bicycle through traffic and not obey the rules of the road like other vehicles?  Do I need to really answer that?

Every situation is different.  I'm not victim-blaming.  I'm asking that we FINALLY start pinning the blame on those responsible.  That's all of US.  Stop trying to find a blanket solution (aka "pedestrian strategy" or "cycling strategy" or any other strategy).  Because no strategy.  No lights.  No fancy do-dats with whistles and horns.  None of it will ever stop all bad things from happening if we, as a society, don't stop and take a deep breath and realize that we're the problem.

Or maybe I'm wrong...