Running thoughts
Cars are awesome. But they have a difficult, long, and expensive upfront cost of training for your license and the cost to get situated with a vehicle and insurance. They also limit the independence of young people - in some states you can't drive as a teenager with other teenagers in your car until you're 18, even if you have your license.
In areas where cars are the primary modes of transport, there tends not to be public transportation or other meaningful alternatives (ex. Biking, because the place isn't dense enough). This means that young people without licenses are basically completely locked out from independent movement.
So despite cars being awesome, especially if you live in a place with low traffic, they disproportionately negatively affect young people because it's harder for young people to use them for independence and transportation.
Cars are NOT an excuse for uninspired development. Stroads aren't an inevitable result of cars, they're a result of uninspired urban planning and development. A weak vision of what a positive layout looks like.

personal-archive/cars-hurt-young-people-the-most.md

---
title: Cars hurt young people the most
created: "2023-09-10T17:27:24+00:00"
modified: "2022-12-09T15:06:28+00:00"
previousPaths:
  - cars-hurt-young-people-the-most.md
---
 

Running thoughts

Cars are awesome. But they have a difficult, long, and expensive upfront cost of training for your license and the cost to get situated with a vehicle and insurance. They also limit the independence of young people - in some states you can't drive as a teenager with other teenagers in your car until you're 18, even if you have your license.

In areas where cars are the primary modes of transport, there tends not to be public transportation or other meaningful alternatives (ex. Biking, because the place isn't dense enough). This means that young people without licenses are basically completely locked out from independent movement. 

So despite cars being awesome, especially if you live in a place with low traffic, they disproportionately negatively affect young people because it's harder for young people to use them for independence and transportation.

Cars are NOT an excuse for uninspired development. Stroads aren't an inevitable result of cars, they're a result of uninspired urban planning and development. A weak vision of what a positive layout looks like.