From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (#AJC) in #Atlanta: This murder-by-car of a human (I'm not going to use the bullshit passive voice and "pedestrian" on this one) was completely avoidable.
Link: https://archive.ph/j40Vw
How so?
There used to be a "shared street" setup on Peachtree Street in Atlanta where the outer lanes of the street were converted to an outdoor sitting area, and the road section for cars was a single-lane in each direction. Traffic slowed down, and the area was more safe for all street users.
But, alas, the property owner of the surrounding buildings and the hotel nearby pitched a fit, claiming various bs excuses like "it took more time to get to the interstate" and "ambulances will be delayed" and so on.
Then, that property owner (Bowers) used his money/power/influence in the General Assembly (Georgia's state legislature) to threaten to ban any future "complete streets" if the shared street wasn't torn down. He bullied the mayor into doing it, and the rest is history.
Source: I helped lead a protest against the tearing down of the shared street. It was awesome, inspiring, and ultimately made no f-ing difference apparently.
And now a man is dead because some asshole property owner thought, rather ironically, that an ambulance would get stuck to pick up a patient. Oh, and he may be a few minutes late getting home.
Kudos to the AJC for reminding people of the history of this.
#safestreets
#urbanplanning
#georgia
#peachtree