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It's not one or the other, it's both. There are different types of routes. Some are: - built for humans to walk on[1]. Cars are not allowed on here at all. -

It's not one or the other, it's both. There are different types of routes. Some are: - built for humans to walk on[1]. Cars are not allowed on here at all. - built for cars to drive on[2]. See the big double yellow lines in the middle? That's how you know this part of the road was designed with cars in mind. However, because we don't have the money to build footbridges over every road, we put a zebra crossing in the middle of it so that pedestrians can cross between the routes that only they are allowed on. Cars get the right of way on roads because that's what we built them (or in the case of old roads that existed before cars, repurposed/maintain them) for. Just like we built the sidewalks/pavements/footpaths/footbridges/etc for pedestrians (and sometimes cyclists). Maybe part of the problem here is that you seem to be using "road" to mean "things people go on", when the rest of us are using the word road to mean "the things people drive on", and generally use other words to describe the things we've built specifically for walking on. [1] https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/w/images/8/8c/Pavement.jpg https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/w/images/8/8c/Pavement.... [2] https://imgs.6sqft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/22110146/NYC-Open-Streets-West-End-Avenue.jpg https://imgs.6sqft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/22110146/N...

chrisseaton 6y ago
But how did the cars end up with the prime space? Look at how much they've got here. The pedestrians are pushed to the side and squeezed. Why do we accept that? And why do we talk about pedestrians 'crossing the street'? How about instead we call crosswalks an extension of the sidewalk and talk about cars 'crossing the sidewalk'? How did we let cars get the upper hand on people? And why is anyone driving through a freaking city in the first place? Unless you're disabled, or delivering physical goods, what on earth are you doing? Get out!
- fastball 6y ago
  Cars are bigger than people, which is why they get more space. People want to get from point A to point B, without it taking 2 hours to get there.
  - umanwizard 6y ago
    So why won’t cities build special-purpose infrastructure for me to drive a tank everywhere? It’s bigger, so surely I need bigger roads for it.
    - fastball 6y ago
      Mostly because tanks aren't optimized for getting normal people from A to B as quickly and efficiently as possible, so we don't build infra for that. Also because approximately zero people have tanks for the aforementioned reasons. That being said, tanks aren't actually that big, so usually you can drive a tank on the road. Main problem is you need to stick to low speed roads because they don't go very fast.
- bryan_w 6y ago
  > And why is anyone driving through a freaking city in the first place? Because I can, and there is literally nothing you can do about it. Heck, sometimes I just get in my car and drive for no reason at all, just because I have the freedom to do so.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    > and there is literally nothing you can do about it The law could be changed, disallowing cars in people spaces like cities without a good reason to be there.
    - fastball 6y ago
      99.9% of driving is so that people can get from one place to another. If that's not a good reason, I'm not sure what is.
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        People's reasons for driving through a freaking city include 'couldn't be bothered to walk', 'couldn't be bothered to take public transport', and in the case of the person I'm replying to, literally 'sometimes I just get in my car and drive for no reason at all'.

chrisseaton 6y ago

But how did the cars end up with the prime space? Look at how much they've got here. The pedestrians are pushed to the side and squeezed. Why do we accept that? And why do we talk about pedestrians 'crossing the street'? How about instead we call crosswalks an extension of the sidewalk and talk about cars 'crossing the sidewalk'? How did we let cars get the upper hand on people? And why is anyone driving through a freaking city in the first place? Unless you're disabled, or delivering physical goods, what on earth are you doing? Get out!

fastball 6y ago
Cars are bigger than people, which is why they get more space. People want to get from point A to point B, without it taking 2 hours to get there.
- umanwizard 6y ago
  So why won’t cities build special-purpose infrastructure for me to drive a tank everywhere? It’s bigger, so surely I need bigger roads for it.
  - fastball 6y ago
    Mostly because tanks aren't optimized for getting normal people from A to B as quickly and efficiently as possible, so we don't build infra for that. Also because approximately zero people have tanks for the aforementioned reasons. That being said, tanks aren't actually that big, so usually you can drive a tank on the road. Main problem is you need to stick to low speed roads because they don't go very fast.
bryan_w 6y ago
> And why is anyone driving through a freaking city in the first place? Because I can, and there is literally nothing you can do about it. Heck, sometimes I just get in my car and drive for no reason at all, just because I have the freedom to do so.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > and there is literally nothing you can do about it The law could be changed, disallowing cars in people spaces like cities without a good reason to be there.
  - fastball 6y ago
    99.9% of driving is so that people can get from one place to another. If that's not a good reason, I'm not sure what is.
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      People's reasons for driving through a freaking city include 'couldn't be bothered to walk', 'couldn't be bothered to take public transport', and in the case of the person I'm replying to, literally 'sometimes I just get in my car and drive for no reason at all'.