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Transportation Engineers Are Legally Obligated to Protect the Public

3 points by oftenwrong 6y ago

chordalkeyboard 6y ago
> Does this mean that transportation professionals are bad people and solely to blame for the transportation pandemic in the U.S.? Certainly not. But just as Dr. Semmelweis’ peers in 1847 bristled at the idea that they might be killing their patients by not washing their hands during medical procedures, a portion of transportation professionals are also actively hostile to the suggestion that they bear some responsibility of the death toll in this country, despite being in the best position to do something about it. Many more who are well intentioned were not prepared by university curricula to think proactively about applying ethics to design and end up learning from peers to do things as they have always been done. For others, the profession just represents a paycheck and they have not considered the issue. Still, another portion of engineers and planners have recognized the problem and have worked to bring reform from within. The development of manuals from organizations like the National Association of City Transportation Officials and engineers pushing for lowering speed limits in communities around the country are good examples. Unfortunately, these individuals are often stymied by the great barrier of the infamous “standards.” Yeah the problem is systemic and our transport networks have to become more suited to bicycles if we want to tackle obesity and carbon release.
Mister_X 6y ago
This really hits home for me, as a motorcyclist and former planning commissioner of my city, I've lived on both sides. But in any changes we made, I always considered Safety First, such as installing traffic slowing measures, making crosswalks shorter using bulb-outs, etc. We still average one pedestrian death per year, which is horrible and needs to be addressed. I'm going to summarize this article and forward it with a link to the article to our City Council.

3 points by oftenwrong 6y ago

> Does this mean that transportation professionals are bad people and solely to blame for the transportation pandemic in the U.S.? Certainly not. But just as Dr. Semmelweis’ peers in 1847 bristled at the idea that they might be killing their patients by not washing their hands during medical procedures, a portion of transportation professionals are also actively hostile to the suggestion that they bear some responsibility of the death toll in this country, despite being in the best position to do something about it. Many more who are well intentioned were not prepared by university curricula to think proactively about applying ethics to design and end up learning from peers to do things as they have always been done. For others, the profession just represents a paycheck and they have not considered the issue. Still, another portion of engineers and planners have recognized the problem and have worked to bring reform from within. The development of manuals from organizations like the National Association of City Transportation Officials and engineers pushing for lowering speed limits in communities around the country are good examples. Unfortunately, these individuals are often stymied by the great barrier of the infamous “standards.” Yeah the problem is systemic and our transport networks have to become more suited to bicycles if we want to tackle obesity and carbon release.

Mister_X 6y ago

This really hits home for me, as a motorcyclist and former planning commissioner of my city, I've lived on both sides. But in any changes we made, I always considered Safety First, such as installing traffic slowing measures, making crosswalks shorter using bulb-outs, etc. We still average one pedestrian death per year, which is horrible and needs to be addressed. I'm going to summarize this article and forward it with a link to the article to our City Council.