Tech we use is us (see: EMT and embodied cognition), and so we care about it like we care about ourselves. Phone is our memory and communicative capabilities, bicycle or car is our feet, and both are visible to other people.
Car culture will be a problem for as long as cities are built for them and people feel the need to regularly morph into car-persons (plus a couple of generations after), because a car is literally part of its driver.
Good public transport and getting rid of private cars in the midst of us will help, but it will be a slow road to get there, especially in countries that place premium on freedom of movement (they don’t want to be beholden to government-run public transit in case government goes rogue).
Meanwhile cities will continue to intersperse walkable areas with private vehicle accessible roads. Proximity of private cars to people means people are always in danger, and the desire to show off, like others show off nice attire or haircut and geeks show off custom mechanical keyboards (as well as to satisfy own childhood examples, if parents drive) by driving expensive or weird cars sadly increases bad outcomes (because such cars are generally fast, large, or broken).
That all said, the guide to stealing Porsche 914 was an entertaining read.
> ... by driving expensive or weird cars sadly increases bad outcomes
Just saying: of all the brands in the US the one that has the least average accident by brand ownership is... Porsche.
At this point, seen the sheer car hate all around, I don't drive a Porsche because I care about what other people think. I drive a Porsche because I don't give a fuck what they think (and I know they wrongly think it's a car creating lots of accidents, when it's actually the brand driven by the safest drivers out there).
It’s true that a driver who cares about their car may be using it better and safer, consistent with my argument above, so perhaps I am incorrect, who knows. (Although I believe larger SUVs and trucks are more deadly if they run into people.)
On the other hand, I know for a fact that there is so much more noise specifically from showoff cars (and motorcycles, but mostly cars). Not all showoff cars do it, but almost all cars that do it are showoff cars. Not sure about their brands, because I just hear the noise which you can’t really escape from. As someone sound-sensitive, this caused me countless anxiety waves, which I reckon is consequential for health.
Also, I have seen many examples where drivers of more expensive cars force pedestrians (and other drivers) to yield, bending rules in ambiguous situations, but I am not prepared to say whether I have perceptual bias on this (and in which direction).
> Good public transport and getting rid of private cars in the midst of us will help, but it will be a slow road to get there, especially in countries that place premium on freedom of movement (they don’t want to be beholden to government-run public transit in case government goes rogue).
Honestly, I don't think cars are going anywhere. Granted, I understand your sentiment if we're talking about the city.
I live in a rural area, in Europe. Its mountainous, and generally only a 4x4 works when going somewhere close to the rivers. Even more so for people with olive trees or vineyards doing agricultural work. And that's ok, but these people also need to be able to go back to the city/town, where they live.
Hell, I need to use a donkey to get to some places :)
Car culture will be a problem for as long as cities are built for them and people feel the need to regularly morph into car-persons (plus a couple of generations after), because a car is literally part of its driver.
Good public transport and getting rid of private cars in the midst of us will help, but it will be a slow road to get there, especially in countries that place premium on freedom of movement (they don’t want to be beholden to government-run public transit in case government goes rogue).
Meanwhile cities will continue to intersperse walkable areas with private vehicle accessible roads. Proximity of private cars to people means people are always in danger, and the desire to show off, like others show off nice attire or haircut and geeks show off custom mechanical keyboards (as well as to satisfy own childhood examples, if parents drive) by driving expensive or weird cars sadly increases bad outcomes (because such cars are generally fast, large, or broken).
That all said, the guide to stealing Porsche 914 was an entertaining read.