Why car dependence is now a strategic liability

Failure to electrify
Road projects and mega-highway projects are unaffordable
No walking, cycling infrastructure or EV bus improvements

Every bus electrified, every cycleway built, every train funded is a direct reduction in exposure to the next crisis. The question now is whether (your place) begins to treat the car dependence not as a lifestyle choice but as a strategic liability. >>
https://theconversation.com/iran-oil-crisis-why-nzs-car-dependence-is-now-a-strategic-liability-278526
#FossilFuels #cars #CarDependence #roads #infrastructure #war #MegaHighwayProjects #PacificHighway #MobilityDesign #dependency

In Bellingen all space seems devoted to parking for combustion machines. Every lawn, river banks, footpaths - everywhere space is eaten by cars with an expensive need for petrol from the Middle East. Carparks litter the landscape of the small town that has very few footpaths.

Image: Bellingen, Church street, Public toilet pathway blocked by oil guzzlers
#Bellingen #access #accessibility #AccessibleAmenities #footpaths #cars #SUVs #storage #hazards #MobilityDesign #walking #climate

Zero Road Deaths?
Killer roads - Can Australia reduce road deaths to zero by 2080?

* Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
"The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities. Capped speed limits and investments in pedestrian, cycling and public transport infrastructure have helped reduce traffic deaths in Helsink" >>
https://www.politico.eu/article/helsinki-no-traffic-death-roads-eu-accident-finland-driving-transport/

* 355 people - killed on NSW roads in 2025
The injured, the life-altering injuries and killed wildlife are not in these statistics.
https://www.nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/minns-government-calls-on-drivers-to-slow-down-355-lives-lost-on-nsw-roads-2025

* Australian road deaths are following dangerous USA trend, expert warns
"A recent rise in Australia’s road toll suggests we are following a USA precedent of rising pedestrian deaths that started long ago." >>
https://www.drive.com.au/news/australian-road-deaths-are-following-dangerous-usa-trend-expert-warns/

* Can we cut road deaths to zero by 2050? Current trends say no. What’s going wrong? >>
https://theconversation.com/can-we-cut-road-deaths-to-zero-by-2050-current-trends-say-no-whats-going-wrong-220289
#Roads #cars #SUVs #speed #RoadTrauma #RoadFatalities #NSW #MobilityDesign #pedestrians #cyclists #infrastructure #PublicTransportation #SacrificeZone #wildlife

Mobility design for all

The cost of doing b̶u̶s̶i̶n̶e̶s̶s̶/ transport should factor in wildlife bridges /corridors at reasonable intervals. When they can construct 40,000-vehicle-a-day conveyor belts through wildlife ecosystems, then they could ensure mobility for koalas, gliders, swamp wallabies and wombats too.
Elsewhere motorways are being retrofitted to allow animals to move safely between fragmented sections of bushland. >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-22/cawleys-bridge-wildlife-crossing-retrofit/106365756

Coffs Harbour bypass >>
https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/projects/coffs-harbour-bypass
#biodiversity #wildlife #mobility #WildlifeBridges #MobilityDesign #roads #highways #CODB #cars #PacificHighway #RoadTrauma #CoffsHarbour

Achieving meaningful lives within planetary boundaries?

"Renewables are already much cheaper than fossil fuels. Alas, fossil fuels are up to three times as profitable. Thus capital forces governments to link electricity prices to the price of the most expensive liquified natural gas, not of cheap solar energy. Similarly, building and maintaining motorways is many times more lucrative for private contractors, car manufacturers and oil companies than a modern network of superfast, safe public railways. So capitalists continue to push our governments to subsidise fossil fuels and road building, even while the world burns."

"...Capital uses every tool at its disposal – debt, sanctions, coups and even outright military invasion to keep southern economies subordinate."
>>
We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – here are the first three steps, Jason Hickel and Yanis Varoufakis
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2026/feb/12/capitalist-model-climate-growth-capitalism-species-humanity
#FossilFuels #biodiversity #Roads #MobilityDesign #motorways #climate #DeliberativeDemocracy #DemocraticBacksliding #autogolpe #SelfCoup #governance
Image: Houses and landscapes destroyed for every wider roads to provide a conveyor belt for combustion vehicles, Coffs Harbour

Tolerating the crushing of pedestrians, cyclists and wildlife with bull bars

" Bull bars are rigid or semi-rigid metal or composite frames mounted to the front of a vehicle.

Pedestrian deaths just reached an 18-year high. Bull bars are part of the problem
In 2025, 197 pedestrians were killed on Australian roads, the highest number since 2007. Almost every state recorded a noticeable spike in pedestrian deaths compared to last year.

Cyclist deaths also climbed to 49, up 32% from last year – the highest since 2013.
One key reason appears to be the growing size and weight of vehicles, which can increase the risk of death and injury.

Evidence shows bull bars can significantly increase the severity of pedestrian injuries, even in low-speed urban crashes.

Bull bars are not banned in Australian cities. Instead, they are regulated through design standards that are weaker than European pedestrian-protection rules. "
>>
https://theconversation.com/pedestrian-deaths-just-reached-an-18-year-high-bull-bars-are-part-of-the-problem-273362
#cars #SUVs #crashes #MobilityDesign #regulation #speeding #pedestrians #cyclists #wildlife #RoadTrauma #Bullbars #RooBars #VehicleRamming #HostileVehicleMitigation

The planet is boiling and burning

“Human activity helped make 2025 third-hottest year on record…The atmosphere is sending us a message.” >>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/14/human-activity-helped-make-2025-third-hottest-year-on-record-experts-say
#FossilFuel #pollution #energy #consumption #denial #ExistentialThreat #Heat #HotPlanet #MobilityDesign #HomoSapiens #biodiversity #SocietalCollapse #ClimateBarbarism

The car-road complex, Big Car is like the military-industrial complex

Saving Ourselves from Big Car, David Obst >>
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/saving-ourselves-from-big-car/9780231210423/

"Big Car is a confederation of industries such as gasoline, auto manufacturing, car insurance, lobbyists, asphalt producers, tire producers, and others, who work together to push a lifestyle that has made us all dependent on their products...The “American Dream” had become the world’s nightmare."
>>
David Obst in Conversation with Renee Bales About Saving Ourselves from Big Car
https://cupblog.org/2025/10/07/david-obst-in-conversation-with-renee-bales-about-saving-ourselves-from-big-car/
#cars #roads #MobilityDesign #suburbs #SettlerSociety #FossilFuel #AmericanDream #BigCar #CarMinds #petromasculinity #CarFreeZones #climate #MassMortality #EV #MaaS

"Military intervention within oil rich countries... It looks like a grab for oil."

"The United States, following its military intervention in Venezuela, now effectively controls the world's largest oil reserves."

"Rising transport costs have been a key contributor to inflation in both the US and Australia. While the US intervention could see lower oil and petrol prices for Australian motorists, it has the potential to produce a short-term inflation spike."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-04/us-intervention-in-venezuela-impact-on-oil-prices-unclear/106197522
#OilandGas #FossilFuel #MilitaryIntervention #cars #petrol #MobilityDesign #SUVs #Autobesity #complicity #Australia #sprawl #climate