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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

Urban Planet: Changing Fault in Traffic Accidents

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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

Sarah Goodyear at The Atlantic Cities comments on our changing understanding of responsibility for traffic accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians. Headlines from the 1930s suggest that the driver, by nature of their heavier vehicle and the purpose of a street, was nearly always at fault and usually charged with “technical manslaughter” when a pedestrian was killed. Today, pedestrian deaths are treated as private matters – unfortunate accidents. Goodyear points to the collaboration of American auto clubs in the 1920s as a key turning point in our understanding of responsibility.

Image from The Atlantic Cities

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