iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 2h

"A woman was attempting to park in a handicap space when she accelerated over the curb," No charges. When's the last time the killer passed a driving test? Why do we still not at least mandate bollards around parking lots? @carintobuilding.bsky.social www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/10/07/c...

atlantanewsfirst.com

22-month-old boy killed after being hit by car at Gainesville shopping center, police say

A 22-month-old child has died being hit by a car at a Gainesville shopping center on Wednesday, according to the city’s police department.

1165

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 12h

some people went down from Orange, but not me

010

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 14h

already de facto legal to run people over with cars, but sure if there's bipartisan legislation supporting it explicitly maybe they'll fall in line behind the Dem party /s

060

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 17h

exactly minivans are large vehicles great for moving cargo and even large appliances, anything even bigger needs stricter testing

010

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 17h

consumer insurance in a compact car should also be much higher, but yeah licensing requirements should be so much stricter for those large vehicles

000

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 22h

but the status quo is he's physically policing my movement All Carbrains Are Bastards

070

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 22h

yep, driver on his phone in a big SUV sped through my crosswalk If hypothetically I'd extended my metal water bottle, and the driver hit it and cracked his windshield, most Americans would say I shouldn't police his violent criminal behavior or that he's a victim of car dependency and needs options

150

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 23h

I want to ride my bike to an errand but the safer thing is to walk that route and I'm grumpy about missing biking this is what drivers take away from us

2253

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 07/10/2026

"people really like SUVs" okay let's make them pay for all of the currently externalized costs, and see how much they actually prefer SUVs and exurban SFHs

160

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 07/10/2026

when rich Americans buy a new huge SUV instead of a sedan for safety, but don't try to limit driving they're not optimizing for their safety. They're paying extra to reduce safety for others.

1202

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 07/10/2026

War, what is it good for? idk about LA, but nationally traffic fatalities dropped by about a third

back burner, but it returned with a vengeance after the war's end in 1945.

The war years were a bright spot for Los An- geles public transportation. Gasoline and rubber were rationed, so Angelenos took transit in record numbers. The Pacific Electric's passenger services turned a profit for the first time in 20 years. But

from https://www.lostsubways.com/

030

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 07/10/2026

I get the aversion, I'm emphasizing it's a choice by the others to not build sedans. Blame anybody still buying new vehicles from US automakers imo. It's a cluster. Paying extra to make an anti social choice to intentionally buy from a global backwater with inferior products.

000

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 07/10/2026

The Model 3 is still being built, and it makes the other American car makers look even worse than they otherwise would.

120

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 07/10/2026

Multiple corporations have good data (eg, Kelly Blue book). Exotics are by definition not representative, and more expensive cars with the same % drop would have a larger haircut. But an equinox has roughly the same utility and lower operating costs than an Escalade, yet lower used cost, right?

200

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 07/10/2026

Multiple levels of government splitting authority over car regulations is counterproductive in a related way, different overlapping types of car regulation and road design means no one government actually takes responsibility for safety.

000

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 07/10/2026

Well yes. I'm saying if *any* large entity with authority also had liability, for harm that already exists but is almost entirely uncompensated, solutions would be found by them. The goal isn't NHTSA or car companies suffering, although that'd be nice, it's improving safety.

110

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 07/10/2026

100% nevermind a Federal ebike credit, we should have government facilities pumping out millions of ebike drivetrains with efficient mass manufacturing and sold at cost

020

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

Need strict driver (re)testing and liability for car makers who enable distracted drivers

010

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

incompetent and unsafe elderly drivers using FSD in Teslas is absolutely a thing that's been reported but I don't know if anyone has researched (or ethically could) about how much worse it is in that age demographic specifically, or how it compares to ADAS use in other cars

110

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

Yeah that's how children move sometimes! It's a sidewalk, categorically the rider's fault. Hope kid wasn't too scared.

030

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

Dems* could win state level offices on a platform of "we'll stop protecting car dealerships by allowing direct to consumer sales and delinking warranty service from sales, so they stop treating you like garbage" *Counterpoint: they actually have to do something in states they already control

070

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

well it's beyond me to get into details of what kind of heat pump you'd get now vs potentially upgrading the outdoor unit at a future date if you expand too much, good luck with the hvac dad renovations

010

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

what's your form factor? Window only, or could it be a minisplit? If the latter, could it support other rooms in the future?

110

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

yeah, especially given total cost of ownership when you consider that the $60k EV, only slightly above average US new vehicle sale price, will have lower maintenance and fuel costs than an ICE vehicle

040

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

huh the Rivian R2 is not smaller than the Mach-E, and has a higher curb weight

110

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

this is true, although if the used market had a strongly different preference rather than merely lower budgets, the resale value would vary more with size and fuel efficiency

140

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

yes and they say the same thing about trucks as if there's some silent minority that wants kei trucks, but pickup trucks are getting bigger and are growing their market share among new vehicle purchases because American new vehicle buyers are anti-social and rich

040

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

all of the subsidies for and negative externalities of exurban sprawl aside (see broadly, cars), what do you mean by "very high demand"? People need to live somewhere, good urban form is supply restricted like you said. Of course they sprawl out and exurbs and where the latest housing is right?

000

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

Neither the NHTSA nor car makers suffer when drivers kill victims, so new cars that don't detect incapacitated drivers are okay for them If states had to pay $10 million to victims, how quickly would they fix traffic "engineering", enforcement, and find new technology? www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa....

Nonetheless, NHTSA believes such technology, when mature, will have a dramatic impact on
road safety and combatting the scourge of impaired driving. NHTSA continues to monitor the
progress of technology and works closely with industry as technology continues to be developed.
Industry experts state most impairment-detection technologies are in the early development
phase, while few are in the research phase. These experts have stated that no such technologies
have demonstrated an adequate level of confidence and reliability to support a regulatory
requirement, especially when considering vehicle countermeasures that may limit vehicle
operation.

050

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

Also relevant because going back for healthcare speaks to the credibility of their immigration claims as refugees

0130

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

That's terrifying, sorry. Glad your kids weren't there. Looks like there's hardly even a curb between the sidewalk and the road? There should at least be as much of a permanent barrier, as there is on the other side beside the construction.

010

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 06/10/2026

we've got to install more cartoon pianos precariously hanging in our cities so we're ready for drivers like that

040

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 05/10/2026

It's awful how much US transportation policy makes transit, even where it exists, so much slower than driving. That's a huge barrier. But children specifically, as a recent @nondriverpodcast.bsky.social ep mentioned, don't have the same sort of scheduling pressures for recreational trips.

040

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 05/10/2026

Another aspect of the lack of independent mobility for US children is the stigma against transit. Which means many parents who have access don't teach their kids or encourage it, and also excessive fares. Like other transportation problems, its inseparable from US car culture.

1133

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 05/10/2026

Sue the ridehail companies and get more settlements! But there's no gain in forcing transit users to suffer by abstaining from automobility. The underlying problem is government favoring driving so much over transit, not ~taxis giving a (somewhat less expensive per ride) alternative to non-drivers

110

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 05/10/2026

even underpriced ridehails were more expensive than fares, & both more expensive and slower (due to waits for pickup) than an extra drive for a car owner. If they undercut transit by giving riders a better option despite ^, that's 💯 the govt's fault for favoring automobility so much over transit

120

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 04/10/2026

Dallas' Neiman Marcus, another victim of cars ruining cities www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/...

Map of Dallas' historical streetcar network,
from The Lost Subways of North America.

Circle around the Neiman Marcus location that gave all streetcar passengers access

From The Lost Subways of North America

At the time Bishop Arts was built, there was a natural incentive for this type of development. The old Dallas Railway was a business, and it was in the company's financial interest to encourage as many people as possible to live and work near the stations. With the loose land regulation of the time, this, in turn, meant that businesses tend- ed to cluster near transport hubs. In the case of Bishop Arts, it's why the neighborhood's shopping district is built around the old streetcar station. While neighborhood commercial districts devel- oped around individual lines, major transit hubs became focal points for the metropolis. It's not an accident that Neiman Marcus, Dallas's grand old central department store, sits at Main and Ervay within a five-minute walk of nearly every streetcar

0101

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 04/10/2026

Norway prioritized EVs among new car sales, and more importantly prioritized street safety. I'm also pessimistic about the US mode shifting away from cars (ICE or EV) or building housing. Continuing subsidies for ICE, and most new car buyers still picking ICE, make it even less likely to happen.

000

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 04/10/2026

why not exclude those two categories then?

140

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 03/10/2026

Yes exactly. Electrification is not sufficient on its own, no one policy is, but it pairs well with reducing driving in cities. There's no tension between them. bsky.app/profile/this...

111

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 03/10/2026

It'll be a while until I can manage completely (kids) but since we mostly rely on walking and buses, I appreciate all of what you do.

031

Reposted by Politics of Cars

Deputy Councilor for Urban Affairs, D13 @williamhazen.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I’ll never survive a Week w/o Driving, because driving a bus is my job, so I took the car out today to solve this accessibility issue near Michigan and Gale, where gravel, soil, trash, and invasive honeysuckle had overtaken the sidewalk. Hopefully this makes someone else’s car free life easier.

Before. A sidewalk covered in gravel, weeds and trash is over grown by invasive honeysuckle

After. Trash and gravel and weeds gone. Honeysuckle cut back to reveal a clear path under the railroad overpass

4807

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 03/10/2026

Eh, generally rich neighborhoods do not pay nearly enough property taxes. There are pernicious assessment accuracy biases vs market price. Tax cuts for individuals (age, date of purchase) which benefit the richest most. Plus higher municipal costs for sprawl (SFH vs condos that cost the same).

110

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 03/10/2026

Again, I get it. Arterials are bad to live near regardless, the compensation is theoretically lower cost, it's a huge policy failure to push multiunit housing there. But my preference, contrary to most HOAs you're imagining, is for those roads to support bike and pedestrian through traffic.

030

Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 03/10/2026

a common problem! Speeding and IME even more likely to look at their phones, because those drivers feel like they are safer looking away on the neighborhood street than the busier road they just left

010