In the name of safety and an inclusive community, a group of anticar advocates talked about how to handle an aggravating situation.
In r/f***cars, a Redditor shared a photograph that showed a large truck, a large SUV, and perhaps another truck blocking a pedestrian walkway. The vehicles were parked atop a raised sidewalk, preventing anyone from getting through.
A sign mere feet from the truck clearly stated "NO MOTOR VEHICLES" — though that was presumably intended to ward off those who might drive, say, a dirt bike along the path and shouldn't be necessary to prevent the creation of a parking lot.
"The new separated bike & pedestrian path in my area is going really well!" the poster wrote.
They continued in a comment: "It's the valet of a steakhouse that parks the cars there. They have a small parking lot so they view the sidewalk as free real estate cuz f*** pedestrians amirite."
It wouldn't be a subreddit without a call to exact revenge, and that's what many users offered.
"You have to go out of your way to do this. You cannot do this on accident," one said. "So I make sure to go out of my way to smash their side mirror."
Someone else had more practical advice, echoing calls to contact the city, the restaurant, and parking enforcement: "Why does no one ever just call a tow yard and be done with it? It's always post to Reddit and never actually do anything about it, or so it seems."
The suggestion did best fit the group's stance about aspiring to develop effective and sustainable alternatives to the United States' reliance on personal vehicles. The negative impacts of car dominance on communities, the environment, safety, and public health were all on display in this picture.
🗣️ Do you worry about air pollution in your town?
🔘 All the time 💯
🔘 Often 😢
🔘 Only sometimes 😟
🔘 Never 😎
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
The answers — found all over the world, even in America — are simple but require significant investments in planning and time, if not money. Improved infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as the availability of mass transit boost relationships and business revenues while decreasing pollution and road fatalities. Walking and biking are also healthy forms of exercise.
In this case, a few bollards or other permanent protections would have prevented the rogue valet company from violating everyone else's right to the space.
Another Redditor wrote: "I feel like a simple fix to this is similar to NYC's bounty on idlers. Make it easy for citizens to submit actionable evidence of illegal parking and such, and then take action on it."
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