#pedestrian death

[oopshenangians]

Zethopa - Alaine x Maxine Relationship Analysis

!!! SPOILERS FOR UNDERGROUND 80’S HORROR MOVIE ZEPOTHA!!!

TW: brief mention of car/pedestrian accident

I’ve seen a lot of controversy here about Zepotha and I’d like to break that up by giving a character analysis about Alaine, our protagonist. Alaine is dating Danny, one of the antagonists. However, it is obvious that there is someone else who is on Alaine’s mind often. This someone? Maxine.

Groundbreaking for its time, Zepotha really does lean into themes of LGBTQ+ and lets Alaine struggle with her newfound bisexuality. She battles with herself between choosing Danny or choosing Maxine. She knows the safe choice. But she also knows the choice she’d much rather follow.

When Danny is revealed to be an accomplice, it shakes Alaine to her very core. What she knew about her safe option was a lie. This mirrors how she originally feels as she starts struggling with accepting her bisexuality. She turns to the option she wants and craves. She turns to Maxine. This in itself is another breakthrough for Alaine. She realizes that how she feels is okay. It’s not something she needs to be afraid of.

Before anything can happen between Alaine and Maxine, they’re distracted by the now famous Bridge Scene. Throughout the rest of the movie, Alaine and Maxine are close. They share glances, subtle touches, but never go farther than that. However, at the end of the movie we can see Alaine hopeful in her new life after all the horrors that consumed her throughout the movie.

Before the audience can get the hope we see in Alaine’s eyes, there’s a cut to Maxine and Lydia walking down the sidewalk, laughing with each other. Out of nowhere, a car swerves off the street, striking Maxine, killing her. While the credits roll, we hear a voiceover of Alaine receiving the news. In her voice, her despair is evident.

The killing of Alaine’s love throws the realization that in the environment she lives in, there’s no hope for her to live how she wants. She can never fully explore the sexuality she’s only recently come to love. The time she lives in will never allow it to happen.

While very much “kill your gays” of Zepotha, I think it went about it fairly well. The directors and producers knew what they were doing. They called out the homophobic rhetoric of the time. They never once second guessed this decision and it made Zepotha what it is today. I’m so happy to see it getting the recognition it deserves.

[atlurbanist]

This is an intersection in the City of Atlanta where a pedestrian was killed this week: Campellton & Butner Roads, near Greenbriar Mall. Many homes are nearby, including a large apartment complex. You won't find a crosswalk here, but you will find a MARTA bus stop that people need to walk to and from. That’s a failure of urban planning and policy. It's not enough to have a few excellent spaces for walking (the Beltline, PATH trails, open streets events). City leaders, neighborhood leaders, GDOT & more must work together to make all streets safe. Is this a photo of a place where Vision Zero is being taken seriously? Where we consider safer streets to be a high value for everyone -- and not just for those who can afford to live in certain places?

[phoenixyfriend]

Gonna fight the NYT podcast/a specific article. So are half the people in the comments.

The article is about increasing pedestrian deaths in the US, specifically at night.

They blame smart phones (and automatic transmission), increased vehicle size, and car-centric infrastructure being hostile to pedestrians.

I and everyone in the comments: IT'S THE FUCKING HEADLIGHTS

Had to leave my comment on YouTube because Spotify has a very low maximum character count.

I think the section on the change in cars is severely lacking in commentary on the factor that is changes in headlights. The lights are on average MUCH brighter than they were years ago, and paired with the increasing size of newer cars, they are often at the exact height to hit the eyeline for a driver in a sedan or other low cars. I and many drivers my age find that we DO NOT feel safe driving at night because we find ourselves blinded by oncoming traffic or cars in our rear view mirrors. This is not just a matter of the drivers, but the manufacturers; you can't really buy a car with weaker lights the way you can buy one with heated seats.

I'd have also liked to hear you touch on the factor of increasing fatigue in drivers coming home when you talked about the afterwork cell usage, since drowsy driving is known to be incredibly dangerous, and increasing wealth inequality means a lot of people in those low-income areas you mentioned are working multiple jobs and thus more fatigued when driving.

I do appreciate the explanation that the United States car-centric infrastructure is hostile to pedestrians, but I think it could have benefited from greater focus.

If you ever do a follow-up, I would suggest reaching out to urbanism activists like Not Just Bikes.

[threadatl]

This is an excellent article on a sad topic: pedestrian deaths are rising.

QUOTE:

"Nationwide, the suburbanization of poverty in the 21st century has meant that more lower-income Americans who rely on shift work or public transit have moved to communities built around the deadliest kinds of roads: those with multiple lanes and higher speed limits but few crosswalks or sidewalks. The rise in pedestrian fatalities has been most pronounced on these arterials, which can combine highway speeds with the cross traffic of more local roads."

In the suburbs of Atlanta (and other metros) and in the city, these wide arterial roads are deadly for walking. Meanwhile, the most walkable places in the city are increasingly unaffordable.

It's obvious that we need a massive shift on a huge scale when it comes to the walkability of our built environments, and in the equitability of access to pedestrian safety.

It will take many steps, big and small, in our policies and investments in order to get there. Some of those small steps will need to happen on your street, and in your neighborhood. Please support them and please speak up when others don't.

[charliejaneanders]

We have a death cult in this country. It's horrifying and should be a major scandal. Every candidate for federal elected office should be asked about this constantly.

[crippl-hacker]

Kill counts on Mobility Aids: cool, funny, fighting back

Kill counts on Cars: stupid, worrying, an actual threat

[chrysalizzm]

“ranboo has broken free” SHUT UP AUSTIN AND JERMA WERE TOTALLY ABOUT TO KISS

[peachdoxie]

The undergrads who ride electric scooters are a goddamn plague upon my town. They are the most suicidally reckless pedestrian-adjacent people I encounter on a daily basis, driving in the streets in dark clothes with minimal lights on their scooters so that I can't fucking see them until I'm 20 feet away, and swerving across multiple lanes of traffic with zero warning. And of course none of these idiots wear helmets. And while I'm at it, fuck Snag for increasing the number of these buffoons. One of these days someone is going to get themselves killed because they can't be smart when riding their fucking scooters.

[zoobus]

I'd like to be more informed on changing local infrastructure, especially regarding pedestrian safety and tree law, but I don't know where to start.

The crosswalks in this city are absurdly ill-planned death traps. Three houses in the same block within the same year got their roofs caved in by old, overgrown trees.

I'm pretty sure these are like. The ur-example of efforts an individual could partake in to make the world just the tiniest bit better. At the same time, I feel these are issues worth being educated on first

[clonerightsagenda]

Feel like I failed to appreciate that the rest of Lucy's team is constantly experiencing the equivalent of the Garfield without Garfield comics. Lockwood shows up to the finale and there are two ghosts and two Listeners yelling at each other and he can only hear half the conversation so he's just like "There is a lot about what is going on here that I don't understand. But I am participating anyway."

[harbingrs]

I cursed in church again and the handclaps all fell quiet I watched a statue of you cry A candle is blown, so we start the black march home Through a stale and silent night There's a funeral in your eyes and a drunk priest at your side Staggering sermons never wash There's no reproach from a lit touch paper, both Got stubborn marrow in bastard bones Should we just get home, sleep this off Throw some sorries and then do it all again? Well, like Bulver said, less heart and more head So un-furrow that brow, un-plant those seeds of doubt

[andytheaspec]

To the jackass who almost hit me because he just had to be on the freeway and then waved as if that would erase the fact that if I hadn't looked I'd be dead: This is why a yellow light is not a challenge. It is a warning. It is up to you to heed that warning. Unless you want to be on trial for vehicular manslaughter, I would recommend you heed that warning.

[threadatl]

Mapping project highlights disturbing rise in pedestrian deaths in Atlanta

In 2022, over 35,000 crashes occurred on Atlanta streets. 548 of these crashes involved people walking, biking, and rolling. 38 of these crashes resulted in the deaths of people walking.

Propel ATL has released a new story map, "38 Reasons Why," about Atlanta’s disturbing increase in pedestrian traffic deaths. These trends also highlight a glaring disparity: People walking in Black neighborhoods and in low-income communities are more likely to lose their lives to traffic violence.

See the story map:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/35c4bb6181a64cc7b820816973d2b5a6

[randomfatechidna]

would love it if people used their indicators on roundabouts 👍