Even more activity on the “cars do not rule” front. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the idea is catching on.

An Oxford resident set up a living room in the middle of his residential street in an effort to slow down drivers and reclaim ownership of the street. It’s part art installation, part political protest.

But I’m conflicted. Though I’ve had my fill of rude, dangerous, and loud divers in NYC, I’m no fan of “traffic calming.” Speed bumps are counterproductive, serving only to waste energy and prevent loud cars from cruising by at the cost of even louder acceleration between bumps. And the other pet solution, lower than normal speed limits, quickly turns into a selective-enforcement jackpot for traffic cops.

So I can’t agree with the artist-protestor, Mr. Dewan, when he complains about speeding traffic, because I don’t think speed alone is a problem. It’s natural that cars move as fast as they safely can on a road, and the only way to stop them is to make some roads pedestrian only or resident only. It’s not helpful to declare an implausible speed limit, then charge people for exceeding it.

But putting speed aside, I’m thrilled with the spirt expressed here:

It’s [the] sense of entitlement that he says he wants to challenge—leaving a 4×4 blocking half the street is called parking but a couple of chairs and a magazine rack put in the same place is seen as a senseless provocation.

Exactly! I’m almost glad the insane SUV phenomenon has happened, because it exposes all the selfish jerks in the world. And the more we see them called out for it in the news, the closer we are do doing something about automobile abuse.

As the owner of two cars, Mr Dewan says he’s far from being anti-motorist, but he wants “mutual respect” between drivers and pedestrians and to stop the “deluded, selfish” way that traffic has come to dominate urban spaces.

Here here! I’m for it, though I’d like to call it anything but “traffic calming,” or use any of those failed techniques.

What walkable cities need, from Oxford to NYC, are roads and paths forbidden to automobiles. That’s the first step. After that, we must control access to the remaining roads. Drivers should pay for their use of a resource, and they should be required to respect human life.

Here’s an idea: if an auto fails to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, that person can report its license tag to an agency. If enough different people do the same, that driver (or car… who cares really?) is forbidden to drive in the area. No fines, no punishment, no courtroom drama.

The only thing that matters is that violent sociopaths are denied their instrument of terror and death. Let them harass Hondas in the suburbs if they must, but drivers have no right to pit their machines against naked flesh.

Oh yeah, and horns should be banned. What, they’re for safety? Are you fucking kidding me?