let's not normalize disaster in Talk Radio

So I recently got into an auto accident and since I’ve been worried about the effect of this accident on my future, multiple well-meaning people have basically been like: shit like this happens all the time.

So I would like to counter with a list of things that, also, happen all of the time:

• obviously, there is a decent chance injury or maiming caused by an accident. Before the opioid epidemic, auto accidents were the leading cause of untimely death in young people.
• Public transportation is missing, inconsistent, and untimely, but individualism means the boss will blame you for this.
• Job & other opportunities lost due to lack of transportation.
• people who walk and ride bikes will be exposed to more weather and hazards. They will appear at work sweatier or in need of a change of clothes, will be seen as less professional and fall victim of classism, workplace rumors, etc.
• Chronic health problems develop & worsen as healthcare cannot be re/scheduled around unavailable transportation.
• Accidents and breakdowns leave one stranded and vulnerable. White havens call cops on “suspicious people” alongside their broken cars. Cops “mistake” a phone for a gun and execute stranded black men, such as what happened to Andre Hill.
• non-drivers are vulnerable to ride offers with ulterior motives and roadside harassment.
• totally sober people are accused of doing drugs for making honest mistakes and evidence can be made up or planted on them. (Vice covered this dirty tactic being used by Boston cops)
• people with unreliable transportation are less likely to be able to vote, despite outreach to them.
• transportation and infrastructure issues factor into many “new jim crow” systemic injustices.
• I may add more to this list as I think of them!

All of these events happen all the time. HORRIBLE THINGS HAPPEN ALL OF THE TIME. Missing the bus might not seem like a life-altering event but it will cause trauma (who hasn’t had a nightmare about missing the bus?) because we are aware of the total life-altering consequences in mobility or lack thereof. This trauma will accumulate and contribute in and of themselves to health problems, addictions, and contribute unambiguously to situations where malevolent actors take advantage of the vulnerable.

I would not even be attempting to drive myself around if that trauma of not having my own car had not already added up for me. So maybe if nearly getting crushed by a bus is less traumatic than worrying about missing it every day…well, think on that please.

Last updated August 01, 2021