General Road and Highway Discussion

[danbrotherston]

Except now they will know...now they will feel that pain directly.

There is method to this madness.

What they will know is that a bunch of radicals disapprove of their vehicle choice. The question is whether the action is *persuasive*. Will they convince anyone to change their behaviour? Will they influence decision-makers? It's very doubtful. I have a hard time seeing this as anything but souring future engagement by climate or active transport activists with the public and these affected people specifically.

Maybe, or maybe not...historically there is a long history of direct action and even violent protests being effective. Whether this is an example, I do not know for sure, only time will tell.

What I do know is that there are lots of factors that influence people's choice of vehicles, preferences obviously, but also social and societal factors. I chose car colours that limit my exposure to enforcement and high insurance premiums. Many people choose cars that limit their risk of theft. So if tires get routinely deflated on certain types of vehicles, some people may choose not to buy those vehicles.

I don't know if that will be the case, and it would clearly require a long term campaign, but it's not impossible to see.

What I do know is that this has brought the issue forward as a talking point that I don't think we've seen before. There are certainly eco topic blogs and newspapers which have discussed how much SUVs have harmed our environment. But it's been fairly limited coverage. For example, AFAIK the record has never reported on it. Now they have.

Like I said, 5 years ago, I would have opposed such a thing, I'm not sure now. Honestly, we are out of time, and our leadership have made barely more than token changes. Yes, I'm happy to have the downtown cycling grid, but as far as GHG emissions go, or even transport policy...that is token. You can tell, because the region has not even considered changing their VMT modelling.

Again, the YouTube video I linked is a far more thoughtful and broad discussion of protest and direct action.

What I do know is that this is the direct and inevitable result of inaction on an existential issue by our government. And this is hardly the only issue we are seeing this on. I expect there is going to be increasing unrest over the next decade...probably future issues won't be easily solvable with a piece of equipment that all car owners should already have.