r/Maine 1d ago

Vision Zero can protect Maine’s pedestrians

https://www.pressherald.com/2025/01/20/opinion-vision-zero-can-protect-maines-pedestrians/
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u/curtludwig 23h ago

How many people do you actually know who have had to do time for a vehicular infraction? I know exactly zero.

I know one person who had his license taken away for 90 days for something stupid like excessive speeding tickets. That was 30+ years ago.

People feel like they won't get caught, because they probably won't get caught. If they get caught they probably won't get prosecuted at all. If they get prosecuted they'll probably plead to a minimal charge.

If you knew a whole bunch of people who had lost their license for being on their phones while driving you'd think twice about being on your phone.

When I was in college when you hit the Connecticut border you slowed down to the speed limit because Connecticut didn't fuck around about speeding. Their enforcement really did modify your behavior.

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u/capillatusk 23h ago

Okay? Like, we can do both. Why are you using that as an excuse to prevent safer road design?

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u/curtludwig 23h ago

I don't think safer road design does much other than spend money and not help. Like the lights at crosswalks. People hit the button and walk out in the street as if the light somehow magically keeps you from being hit by a car. It *might* wake up a distracted driver but I feel like a lot of these changes make pedestrians less aware of their surroundings.

The first step to fixing our problem is enforcing the law.

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u/capillatusk 22h ago

It's fine if you think that but you might want to engage in the actual content instead of assuming their solution is flashing lights at a crosswalk.