Taller hoods are a major contributor to crashes that kill pedestrians.

"More evidence is piling up that extra-tall vehicle hoods, increasingly common on American trucks and SUVs, are more dangerous to pedestrians."

"...Data from the 1990s found that a pedestrian hit by a light truck was two to three times more likely to be killed, with another study finding that light trucks were twice as likely to injure a pedestrian than a car, especially at low speed.” >>
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2024/01/127196-study-zeroes-dangers-taller-vehicles
#pedestrians #cars #SUVS #PickupTrucks #PedestrianFatalities #PedestrianDeaths #regulation
Image: Tall vehicle hood mingling with toddler and pram, Bellingen

Taking from cars and giving to people

Kerbside parking - "Drivers are using a public road to park their private cars. What would happen if authorities banned on-street parking?"

"Australia actually has an oversupply of parking, both on streets and in parking lots...In many European nations, authorities have worked to make streets less centred on cars and parking." >>
https://theconversation.com/kerbside-parking-is-great-for-drivers-but-terrible-for-everyone-else-could-we-get-rid-of-it-283687
#cars #motorists #clutter #parking #pedestrians #space #micromobility #SegregatedPaths #footpaths
Image: Kerbside parking. Vehicles encroaching on the few footpaths, Bellingen

To what cannot be any great surprise to anyone living / visiting Toronto, it did not not make this list of 100 most-walkable cities.
As a sidebar to this, while any number of 'world-class' cities (of which Toronto keeps insisting it is) and others create permanent pedestrianized city cores and neighbourhoods, Toronto has a few councillors gnashing their teeth over an upcoming closing of two short blocks to traffic over two months this summer.

#toronto #Canada #walkablecities2026 #walkablecities #pedestrians

https://blog.guruwalk.com/top-100-walking-cities-2026-en/

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