Sarah Jo Peterson
Sep 5, 2018 · 1 min read

Alas, I wish we lived in a world where people heeded, or even sought out, the advice of ethicists and planners, but in reality these decisions will be made by politicians (local, state, federal) and the powers-that-be behind them. The technology and automotive industries are some of the most powerful powers-that-be.

Case in point: the 85th percentile rule. Civil engineers built streets that they didn’t fully understand, so traffic engineers decided that they should let the street tell society what its speed limit should be! Deaths followed and neighborhoods deteriorated, but the laws are very difficult to change. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-speed-trap-20180722-story.html

    Sarah Jo Peterson

    Written by

    Urban planner and historian. Washington, DC. Planning and History face in opposite directions, but they pull in the same direction.