Episode 4: Rainbow Crosswalks Aren’t the Problem + Why U.S. Road Safety Is

Rainbow Crosswalks – David & Wes respond to the backlash against rainbow crosswalks and ask a more fundamental question: why are symbolic safety treatments (that have proven to help_ getting blamed for crashes instead of the underlying designs that put people at risk? Using recent controversies as a starting point, they unpack how U.S. road safety debates often focus on visibility and culture wars while ignoring the fundamentals of speed, vehicle design, and street/city geometry. Today, we also talk about: 🔹 What David noticed while traveling in Europe 🔹 The “misery index” & paratransit  🔹 The US/Canada road safety gap, what Canadian cities prioritize differently, and why those choices matter And it’s 5 O'Clock Somewhere so stick around to the end for some rail drinks... and stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation! If you are interested, here is Wes’ paper about Paratransit: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198225000260 And David’s article on the growing divide in road safety between the US and Canada: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-13/the-us-and-canada-are-going-in-different-directions-on-traffic-safety Music by Charlie Van Stee (courtesy of bensound) Email us at [email protected] or find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org