Being a PAL — Oregon Style

[eminva]

Hello —

I just got back from a week on vacation in Ashland, Oregon. While there, I was a pedestrian and cyclist. While not a driver, I was a frequent passenger in a car. I was pretty astonished at what I saw — very effective PAL interaction by all three modes of travel. Thought I’d pass it along as food for thought and ask what you all think might contribute to develping such an atmosphere here.

Ashland is small — 20K population, according to Wikipedia, but it is a tourist or resort town, home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and bustling three seasons of the year. The festival is located right on Main Street in the center of town, so there are pedestrians coming and going at all hours.

Like anywhere, auto traffic was heavy, but I was amazed at how every single car came to a complete stop at any pedestrian crossing if there was a pedestrian within 10 feet of the crosswalk who looked like he or she might be contemplating crossing. Conditioned to life in the DC region, I unconsciously chop my steps when approaching a street crossing if a car is approaching, so that we don’t reach the crossing at the same time. I realized on several occasions in Ashland that the car was doing exactly the same thing that I was — slowing to wait for me — setting up almost a Helpy Helperton situation. In each case the car stopped so I could cross.

I observed that my host, a longtime Ashland resident, did likewise when driving. She is not a cyclist, but she drove very cautiously around cyclists, waiting patiently at a safe following distance for an opportunity to pass safely.

While in a group of Ashland residents, aged from teen to 70-something, I asked about this. They all seemed to take it for granted that motorists look out for pedestrians and cyclists. To do otherwise seemed unthinkable. I heard one or two concede that waiting for pedestrians does slow you down, but no real grousing.

I’m wondering how you build such an environment. Without doing a legal research project, I assume their statutes set up a different presumption for zebra striped crossings — in VA, motorists by law are to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. It may be extended to pedestrians waiting to cross under Oregon law, I don’t know. I also assume there must be some robust enforcement, but I wasn’t around long enough to observe that.

At the end of the day these folks are Amuricans, just like us, with the same reliance on cars. What makes them behave differently, and how can we get a little of that here?

Liz

Topic

[KLizotte]

I suspect it is due more to culture and class than anything else as well as being a small community. I noticed the same behavior when I was in western Mass last month; it was so refreshing and such a rude awakening when I returned to the DC area. At one time I would have said it was a rural vs urban issue but having ridden my bike through the villages of Loudon County I have dramatically changed my mind; the folks in Loudon County were among the worst drivers I have ever encountered (passing dangerously and beeping their horns with impatience all the time).

“In two field studies on driving behavior, upper-class motorists were found to be four times more likely than the other drivers to cut off other vehicles at a busy four-way intersection and three times more likely to cut off a pedestrian waiting to enter a crosswalk. Another study found that upper-class participants presented with scenarios of unscrupulous behavior were more likely than the individuals in the other socio-economic classes to report replicating this type of behavior themselves.”

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/02/27/greed/

[ShawnoftheDread]

Based on the average income of Loudoun County and its DC proximity, I’d guess that many of its residents fit your second paragraph more than most “rural” residents.

[eminva]

I’ll concede a possible cultural difference (but see below), but not class — most of the permanent residents of Ashland are associated with the university, theater or are wealthy retirees from other parts of the west coast. There were even McMansions on the hill where I was lodging. It is a very affluent municipality.

Re: possible cultural difference: a bit more hippie-fied, but all in all it reminded me very much of our region — affluent, well educated and generally tolerant. That’s why I was struck (and made hopeful) by the different attitude to various transportation modes.

Liz

[dasgeh]

I just got back from a week near Burnsville, NC, which is NE of Asheville, close to the TN border. About half of my extended family cycles, so there were people out on bikes every day. No one encountered problems with cars, and I definitely found drivers to be more respectful and responsible when driving around cyclists than you see around here. Especially on curvy mountain roads. Lots of drivers waited until safe and passed with wide berth.

[Hancockbs]

@dasgeh 61376 wrote:

I just got back from a week near Burnsville, NC, which is NE of Asheville, close to the TN border. About half of my extended family cycles, so there were people out on bikes every day. No one encountered problems with cars, and I definitely found drivers to be more respectful and responsible when driving around cyclists than you see around here. Especially on curvy mountain roads. Lots of drivers waited until safe and passed with wide berth.

i was recently in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN and had the same experience on the backroads that the tourists don’t use, but when I had to use a “tourist road”, it was just like being here. Seems the locals are courteous, but the visitors are not.

[DismalScientist]

I had a former colleague that defined the “Scum Belt” as 100 miles on either side of I-95 (and I-64) from Norfolk to Maine/New Hampshire line (with isolated pockets on the West Coast). The defining characteristic of this area is that its denizens have an overstated notion of their own self-importance. IMHO, scum belt behavior is behind about one third of the threads on this forum.

[dasgeh]

@DismalScientist 61815 wrote:

I had a former colleague that defined the “Scum Belt” as 100 miles on either side of I-95 (and I-64) from Norfolk to Maine/New Hampshire line (with isolated pockets on the West Coast). The defining characteristic of this area is that its denizens have an overstated notion of their own self-importance. IMHO, scum belt behavior is behind about one third of the threads on this forum.

I believe there’s plenty of scum in the vicinity of 95 south of Virginia too. At least in Florida…

[Author]

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