Crashes at Lavenders Bridge, North Bellingen

* Just a short time ago two women were killed and another seriously injured after a motorist 'lost control' near the notorious Lavender Bridge and smashed into two cars parked at the riverside swimming spot. >>
https://coffscoast.newsofthearea.com.au/a-woman-has-tragically-died-in-a-crash-at-bellingen-on-thursday-afternoon

* Today there was another serious incident involving two e-bikes. An ambulance was seen at the crash zone. An injured person was seen lying on the ground. (The ambulance is visible on the Kombu Flood Camera at 2026-05-24 11.26 ) >>
https://kombuwholefoods.com.au/floodcam/

* The long road to a bike-friendly Australia >>
https://mastodon.au/@Bellingen/116626357349183983

* In the design of the new 'Lavenders Bridge Replacement' bikes and foot traffic do not seem to be a feature. A lot of bitumen was smeared over the river banks to facilitate the convenience for cars (parking).

Image: North Bellingen, Lavender Bridge Black Spot by design

#MobilityDesign #LavendersBridge #cars #motorists #infrastructure #climate #ActiveTransport #footpaths #SharedStreet #cyclists #ProtectedBikeLanes #dehumanisation #sprawl #suburbia #traffic #aggression #RoadRage #RoadTrauma #CarDependency #FossilFuels #BellingenShire #accidents #crash #pedestrians

The long road to a bike-friendly Australia
and the dehumanisation of cyclists

* "At the rate Australian cities are building cycling networks, a cohesive system is probably decades away. What’s taking so long?

"NSW wants to double active transport trips in 20 years...But at the rate Australian cities are building cycling networks, a cohesive system is probably another 50 years away, experts speaking to The Fifth Estate warned. Progress is slow. (One bike bridge was recently installed in Melbourne after 37 years of lobbying and discussion.)"

"A 2024 report by The Australia Institute points out that less than 1 per cent of federal road funding goes to active transport infrastructure."

"Richter was one of 49 bike riders who died on Australian roads last year, up on the average of around 38 deaths per year between 2012-23. (Thousands more were hospitalised with serious injuries during that period.)." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-24/active-transport-cycling-bikes-cities-safety/106710436

* Dehumanization of cyclists predicts self-reported aggressive behaviour toward them: A pilot study >>
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369847818308593?dgcid=author

#MobilityDesign #cars #motorists #infrastructure #climate #ActiveTransport #footpaths #SharedStreet #cyclists #ProtectedBikeLanes #dehumanisation #sprawl #suburbia #traffic #aggression #RoadRage #RoadTrauma #CarDependency #FossilFuels #Australia

IMAGE: Children on scooters on a 'normal' Bellingen bitumen streetscape lacking a footpath or a cycle path. Nothing is protecting the flesh and blood from metal and steel.

The state of young Australians
A crisis of social reproduction

* “Many Australian children struggle with their mental health. Recent data shows around one in seven children (13.9%) aged 4–17 experiences a diagnosable mental illness.”

“…We estimated that reducing factors such as parental psychological distress, hostile parenting and partner violence could potentially prevent up to 40% of severe and persistent mental health problems in young Australians.” >>
https://theconversation.com/to-improve-childrens-mental-health-start-by-supporting-their-parents-271944

* Young Australians kept in the dark
Australia’s social media ban preventing teenagers from accessing the news, research finds >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/may/19/australias-social-media-ban-preventing-teens-from-accessing-the-news-research-finds

* Sydney mum reveals the huge cost of the school run (Young people's socialisation into (car) dependency)
"She would easily spend $170 a week on petrol, and drives between 80km and 90km often six or seven days a week, depending on what’s on. In 2024, the average household should budget between $10,000 and $25,000 a year to own car." >>
https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/scool-run-australia-cost-2024/
#SocialReproduction #StateRetreat #CareDeficit #MentalHealth #anxiety #children #parenting #carers #family #DomesticViolence #violence #suburbia #sprawl #cars #MobilityDesign #CarDependency #work #WageStagnation #inequality #housing #instability #DoubleBurden #financialisation #outsourcing #SocialMedia #MSM #independence #citizens

The answer is there all along, it is just a matter of what are the options available to go home.

#ireland #CarDependency #publicTransport

A genuinely sad case - #driver clearly wasnt a "good lad", involved with #drugs and under influence when #driving - but I don't think he set out to #crash and kill the lass and badly injure his friend

A wider issue is social circle for young people outside big cities is affected by #CarDependency and #ToxicMasculinity (I suspect his friend and girlfriend admired him for owning the #BMW )

If he'd stopped he'd likely have walked free from Court and got only 3 years ban as no one would have got hurt, but as fun as #partydrugs can be, they can lead to irrational and impulsive behaviour (he's also likely to be on the comedown and sleep deprived which wouldn't have helped matters)

#RTC #RoadSafety #DUI #Gateshead #Scotland

https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2026-05-01/banned-drug-driver-jailed-after-136mph-police-chase-ends-in-fatal-crash-on-a19

Once again parts of #OrwellBridge in #Ipswich #Suffolk closed due to rush hour #collision (#car vs #lorry) with one #fatality and one #arrest

if its not possible to quickly reduce #CarDependency (and realistically it is not), nor build the #NorthernBypass - then there's a real need to further encourage #FlexibleWorking and more people to move away from 9-5 working hours - all these crashes seem to happen around rush hour, whereas same #A14 highway is a lot quieter in afternoons and evenings (there's still lorries, but they are more spread out and not so many bottlenecks at the junctions)

#RoadSafety #Transport #UK

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2026-04-27/man-dies-after-crash-which-closed-major-bridge

Ostie, on passe de l'avion vers le train à Edmonton (direction Vancouver, fin mai).

En transport en commun ce trajet de 1h43 se divise en quatre segments: navette ➡️ Light Rail Train ➡️ Bus ➡️ marche de 1.5 km.

La marche de 1.5 km (avec nos bagages) doit se faire SUR UN CRISSE DE BLVD INDUSTRIEL SANS TROTTOIR! 🤬

https://maps.app.goo.gl/6wJe3saD6feffhE49

#carDependency

It is not a fuel crisis,
it is a fossil fuel crisis!

Oh dear, We forgot to transition our mobility system
Go e-anything now without the matching active mobility infrastructure.

This fuel crisis could last for a while. It’s time for a new approach to fuel use – end it. >>
https://theconversation.com/this-fuel-crisis-could-last-for-a-while-its-time-for-a-new-approach-to-fuel-use-end-it-280454

#MobilityDesign #FossilFuels #CarDependency #oil #war #CarMinds #HabitFormation #idling #speeding #EnergyTransition #infrastructure #machinery #ActiveMobility #sprawl #walkability #bikepaths #EMobility #ClimateCrisis

Big Oil war profits: $30m every hour

"$30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds
Exclusive: Climate action blockers including Saudi Arabia, Russia and major fossil fuel firms set to make extra $234bn by end of 2026."

"The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian. Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and ExxonMobil are among the biggest beneficiaries of the bonanza, meaning key opponents of climate action continue to prosper."

"Jess Ralston, the head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “This oil and gas crisis is illustrating yet again the cost of our dependence on volatile fossil fuels." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/15/big-oil-huge-war-windfall-consumers
#BigOil #oil #war #profit #cars #ClimateDenial #ClimateCrisis #energy #CarDependency #FossilFuels
Image: Ad spammed my system. World on fire?