6 ms·

If at 3AM my kid starts feeling very sick, how do I get him to the doctor/hospital in a city where cars are banned? And I'm not trying to be facetious, I think

by dudul 7y ago

If at 3AM my kid starts feeling very sick, how do I get him to the doctor/hospital in a city where cars are banned? And I'm not trying to be facetious, I think the theory of car-less cities is really appealing, but I honestly don't see how this is a good solution.

judge2020 7y ago
Assuming the city is made for people as the parent comment said, you would go to your (very close) train station and get a ride to the nearest hospital or the nearest urgent care.
- derg 7y ago
  Also assuming vital things like ambulances are cheap and or free instead of hundreds (or thousands) of dollars means it is a lot more viable to call for one and a mostly car-free city means quicker transport in said vehicle.
  - dudul 7y ago
    Sure, why stop at completely remodeling hundreds of years of urbanism, let's just also fix up the complete mess that is the US health care system while we're at it :) That being said, yes I agree. And I would not have made the same comment if I was still living in Europe where calling an ambulance is virtually free (I did it a couple of times).
- dudul 7y ago
  So I would have to walk like what? 15 minutes with my kid who is crying, then wait another 10 to 15 minutes for a train to show up, then wait on the train for 15 to 20 minutes, then walk from the station to the hospital for maybe 5 to 10 minutes. So this is roughly 60 to 80 minutes, with my crying child, and all assuming a fairly efficient public transportation system. I think that's always the problem when we get pitchforks out to ban cars altogether. I'm all for "greener" cities, for bicycle lanes and all. All policies that try to make it less required to use your car are great, but a blanket ban is idiotic because sometimes, having a car can literally save your life.
  - pwinnski 7y ago
    There are many human-oriented cities around the world in which mass-transit reigns, and they manage to make life work. I've been in Hong Kong a lot, and I'm not sure I can pick two points in Hong Kong that are 80 minutes apart from each other. I mean, maybe getting to the New Territories from Sai Wan Ho or something, but they have their own closer hospitals, so... It's hard to explain dry land to a fish, but life without cars is possible.
    - damnyou 7y ago
      I loved Hong Kong when I visited it but I would never want to live there. My quality of life in the US is much higher.
    - Alupis 7y ago
      > There are many human-oriented cities around the world in which mass-transit reigns All of which are densely populated cities. This concept simply doesn't work in majority of America, where the average city is sparsely populated and quite spread out. People living in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Portland, Austin, Los Angeles, etc... quickly forget what life is like in say... Fiddletown, California.
      - pwinnski 7y ago
        Yes, a city that bans cars would necessarily need to become a densely-populated city, for sure.
      - magduf 7y ago
        If Fiddletown, California were forced to pay for its own road construction and upkeep, instead of getting free money from the state or federal government, they'd have to massively raise their taxes, and the town would become a ghost town as people moved to the large cities that have lower per-capita infrastructure costs.
  - bluGill 7y ago
    If cars are banned everybody will seek the alternates: that means the walk to the train is much less than 15 minutes (unless you are a farmer - but farmers already have a 30 minute drive to the nearest hospital, and over an hour to a good one), and the train will come more often than every 15 minutes even at 3am. The train will also stop in the hospital, so that walk is less.
- wincy 7y ago
  As someone who suffers from motion sickness, and whose children are the same, with trains being the worst offender (since we can't look forward which mitigates the issue somewhat), I do not look forward to this future.
  - bkor 7y ago
    In trains it's better to look towards the back of the train. So do it next to a window, but with your face towards the back of the train. This at least according to one person I was on a train with. I had a reserved seat looking towards the back of the train. I (and most people) don't like those. The other person really wanted my seat because of motion sickness. So we were both really happy to switch seats :-D
Symbiote 7y ago
Obviously in a taxi or ambulance, depending on the severity. We are allowed to make reasonable exceptions.
smileysteve 7y ago
To be nostalgic, in a non driving world, perhaps there is a neighborhood doctor's office. To relate to the other comments talking about health policy change; you should already be looking for a local urgent care for most issues. And to put the question further in U.S. medical politics perspective; if you're a rural American in a state that hasn't expanded medicaid, your local Level 1 Trauma hospital is likely too far away anyway...
paxys 7y ago
Car-free does not mean inaccessible. All cities that have taken these steps have also made exceptions for emergency vehicles, commercial vehicles (with permits) etc. In fact with fewer cars on the road you are going to be able to get to the hospital quicker.

by dudul 7y ago

judge2020 7y ago

Assuming the city is made for people as the parent comment said, you would go to your (very close) train station and get a ride to the nearest hospital or the nearest urgent care.

derg 7y ago
Also assuming vital things like ambulances are cheap and or free instead of hundreds (or thousands) of dollars means it is a lot more viable to call for one and a mostly car-free city means quicker transport in said vehicle.
- dudul 7y ago
  Sure, why stop at completely remodeling hundreds of years of urbanism, let's just also fix up the complete mess that is the US health care system while we're at it :) That being said, yes I agree. And I would not have made the same comment if I was still living in Europe where calling an ambulance is virtually free (I did it a couple of times).
dudul 7y ago
So I would have to walk like what? 15 minutes with my kid who is crying, then wait another 10 to 15 minutes for a train to show up, then wait on the train for 15 to 20 minutes, then walk from the station to the hospital for maybe 5 to 10 minutes. So this is roughly 60 to 80 minutes, with my crying child, and all assuming a fairly efficient public transportation system. I think that's always the problem when we get pitchforks out to ban cars altogether. I'm all for "greener" cities, for bicycle lanes and all. All policies that try to make it less required to use your car are great, but a blanket ban is idiotic because sometimes, having a car can literally save your life.
- pwinnski 7y ago
  There are many human-oriented cities around the world in which mass-transit reigns, and they manage to make life work. I've been in Hong Kong a lot, and I'm not sure I can pick two points in Hong Kong that are 80 minutes apart from each other. I mean, maybe getting to the New Territories from Sai Wan Ho or something, but they have their own closer hospitals, so... It's hard to explain dry land to a fish, but life without cars is possible.
  - damnyou 7y ago
    I loved Hong Kong when I visited it but I would never want to live there. My quality of life in the US is much higher.
  - Alupis 7y ago
    > There are many human-oriented cities around the world in which mass-transit reigns All of which are densely populated cities. This concept simply doesn't work in majority of America, where the average city is sparsely populated and quite spread out. People living in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Portland, Austin, Los Angeles, etc... quickly forget what life is like in say... Fiddletown, California.
    - pwinnski 7y ago
      Yes, a city that bans cars would necessarily need to become a densely-populated city, for sure.
    - magduf 7y ago
      If Fiddletown, California were forced to pay for its own road construction and upkeep, instead of getting free money from the state or federal government, they'd have to massively raise their taxes, and the town would become a ghost town as people moved to the large cities that have lower per-capita infrastructure costs.
- bluGill 7y ago
  If cars are banned everybody will seek the alternates: that means the walk to the train is much less than 15 minutes (unless you are a farmer - but farmers already have a 30 minute drive to the nearest hospital, and over an hour to a good one), and the train will come more often than every 15 minutes even at 3am. The train will also stop in the hospital, so that walk is less.
wincy 7y ago
As someone who suffers from motion sickness, and whose children are the same, with trains being the worst offender (since we can't look forward which mitigates the issue somewhat), I do not look forward to this future.
- bkor 7y ago
  In trains it's better to look towards the back of the train. So do it next to a window, but with your face towards the back of the train. This at least according to one person I was on a train with. I had a reserved seat looking towards the back of the train. I (and most people) don't like those. The other person really wanted my seat because of motion sickness. So we were both really happy to switch seats :-D

Symbiote 7y ago

Obviously in a taxi or ambulance, depending on the severity. We are allowed to make reasonable exceptions.

smileysteve 7y ago

To be nostalgic, in a non driving world, perhaps there is a neighborhood doctor's office. To relate to the other comments talking about health policy change; you should already be looking for a local urgent care for most issues. And to put the question further in U.S. medical politics perspective; if you're a rural American in a state that hasn't expanded medicaid, your local Level 1 Trauma hospital is likely too far away anyway...

paxys 7y ago

Car-free does not mean inaccessible. All cities that have taken these steps have also made exceptions for emergency vehicles, commercial vehicles (with permits) etc. In fact with fewer cars on the road you are going to be able to get to the hospital quicker.