Originally Posted by
UniChris
The reality of existing car free settings casts doubt on that belief.
Consider for example how less predictable and aware of surroundings pedestrians become where there's no threat of death by automobile.
And going the other way, cyclists become the not infrequently inconsiderate and too-fast-for conditions threat, exactly recreating driver behavior in miniature.
It's true that current traffic laws are "autonormative" but even without cars, efficient cycling at a user volume displacing even a fraction of car trips wouldn't be safe without some sort of norms and shared expectations of how "traffic" works - just see all the MUP conflict threads and realize that's pretty much driven by the recreational traffic volume, not people actually trying to go anywhere for a purpose.
Indeed, this can be observed in places such as train stations and large shopping centers. People mill around, and even occasionally bump into one another, apologize, and keep going.
At the other extreme, if two cars even so much as touch one another, it becomes a matter for the police and insurance.
Bikes are somewhere in between. Surely, some rules are needed, but probably not very many. I can't imagine cycling without at least a convention on which side to pass on. I'd love to live in a world where bike traffic is a problem.
