A significant portion of a parent’s life in the suburbs will be dedicated to transporting their children to and from events until the arbitrary age of sixteen. Humans are able to vote at eighteen, smoke and drink at twenty-one, but are somehow able to operate a two-tonne vehicle at sixteen. Let’s wind it back to a younger age, though.

As suburban sprawl has expanded … and expanded, lives of young children are made increasingly isolated. As the density of housing decreases, peers in the immediate area decrease. Furthermore, exposure to different types of people, parks, and businesses shelter children and reduce opportunities for learning. Spread-out housing developments also typically mandate wide, two-way roads. These wide-two way roads prevent children from playing in the street, instead relegated to yards. Although this may seem inconsequential, many accidents happen every year from cars hitting kids in the street. Without tight roads or speed bumps, people operating cars feel entitled to drive a certain speed and limit their perception. This, combined with the infrastructure that favors cars (not humans), it is of no surprise that over 600 children die each year in car-related incidents.

Furthermore, American car sizes keep increasing and increasing, without any regulation for government. With the demand for vanity pick-up trucks and large SUVs increasing, pedestrian deaths in the US are actually increasing. Here is an informative video of the front blind spot.

Finally, transporting your child in a car enables them to give in to the distractions of screens and phones, rather than observing the outdoor world. Cars go by so quickly that people have little time to notice new things, or even the weather. We all appreciate when the weather turns from the hot summer to the cool fall, or from the bitter winter to the warm spring. This appreciation for the world around us is only intensified when we appreciate the weather day to day, instead of being carried from destination to destination. As they used to say, “builds character.”

Key Points

• Car dominance removes independence, socialization, and safe outdoor activities for children
• In the US, car heights are evolving at a point where many drivers cannot see children in front of them, increasing adolescent pedestrian deaths.

Site: https://www.childrenssafetynetwork.org/infographics/walking-safe-child-pedestrian-safety