Re-posting this thread with the start of the new school year and the annual race among public agencies to see who can put out the most offensive, uninformed, and counterproductive "stay safe out there, kids" PSAs.
TL;DR: calling people outside cars #VulnerableRoadUsers is very bad form. Don't do it.
@DrTCombs
Thanks, Dr. Tab. We really do need to change the way we think about transportation design, and considering people outside of cars as some sort of self-vulnerablizing interlopers has to end.
@Osteopenia_Powers "self-vulnerablizing interlopers" is a brilliant term!
@DrTCombs interesting point, which I haven’t seen made before. Easy to see the parallel with Covid mitigations, moving away from “we’re all in this together”, to “take precautions if you’re high risk”, while encouraging rampant virus spread and going so far (in some places) as to outlaw masks.
And for those who might think this is new idea I'm trying on, or am interested in debating it, it is not.
I have spent decades studying the experiences of people trying to navigate their environments on the outside of a car. My caution against the use of #VRU language is not a hot take. It's the result of a very long time thinking, studying, analyzing, discussing, teaching, and writing about this.