Tab Combs @DrTCombs@transportation.social

But I'll never forget about the years we could have asked if she was OK and didn't....because we thought it would come off as nosy and disrespectful.

There are far worse things in life than coming off as nosy and disrespectful.

If your gut is telling you to check in on someone, check in on them. (4/4)

What we thought was respectful non-nosiness turned about to be a badly missed opportunity to let this person know we cared enough to ask if she was ok. She wasn't.

I'm so thankful that she and her son did eventually find their way out. They're now living their absolute best life, freely and peacefully. And she's now helping others find their way out as well, and it's so wonderful to see. (3/4)

Six years ago, my former grad school neighbor and her son escaped an abusive marriage.
Back when we were both PhD students, she and her then-husband shared a wall with us. They were from a very different culture and background, and we worked hard not to question what we thought at the time was just a different way of life than what we were used to.
But looking back on it, we missed HUGE signs (I will not go into them). (2/4)

It's never not ok to make sure those around you are ok.

Best case scenario, everyone's ok. But if they aren't, at the very least you've let them know you care enough to ask.

Ahhh, that glorious half second of silence between when the power goes out and all the neighbors' gas generators kick on

TFW you peer review the world's cringiest paper and your partner hears your quiet rants and gets an AI bot to generate a song to help you process it.

IDK who needs to hear this but traffic lights were not invented and are rarely installed to improve safety

#TrafficLightDay

Me: Yay, I have finally found the headspace I need to work on this long overdue but really important article.

My next door neighbor: Yay, my 12,000 hp turbo wet/dry vacuum power washer with super duper sandblasting mega boost just arrived!

Also known as "that can-can" song. It was the music of choice for far too many figure skaters during the 1992 winter olympics in Albertville, France, likely trying to capture the hearts of French fans? Maybe?

You can get it stuck in your head as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh5g75svRJ4

I have had *galop infernal* stuck in my head for 32 years

#ParisOlympics

Don't get me wrong -- I'm happy our state transportation agency is taking this step. It's a big change, and they should be proud to have made it happen. This is good news and, hopefully, represents the start of a much needed shift in transportation policies.

But we still have a long, long way to go before we see meaningful improvements in how we think about and provide for anyone outside a car.

#Traffic #RoadSafety #VisionZero #pedestrians #CarSupremacy (13/13)

Completely remove the possibility that a driver will have to navigate around a pedestrian who is lawfully in a crosswalk. No #RTOR, ever. No lefts--permissive or protective--across a crosswalk with an active walk signal.

Do that, and the #LPI becomes irrelevant. And walk signals will mean it's actually safe to walk.

But doing that takes willingness to prioritize #SafetyOverFlow. And we're not there yet. (12/13)

...because they had a green left arrow.

Absent other interventions, #LPIs work best when:
1. pedestrians are fit, attentive, and ready to bolt when they walk signal comes on, and
2. right-turning drivers come to a full stop and look both ways before turning right, and
3. left-turning drivers are capable of managing an intense cognitive load and valuing the safety of others as much as their own

which is to say, very rarely.

What works is fully protected walk phases. (11/13)

And that pedestrian is now in a stand-off with a driver who's just been told that this is their special time to go, and no one is supposed to be in their way. At best, they see the pedestrian and honk, yell, generally get pissy about it, but at least they probably don't hit them.

At worst, they don't see the pedestrian at all because the green arrow told them they didn't even have to look. And they are totally baffled to discover that they just hit someone and it was their own fault... (10/13)