How to fatten up by taking the car

A study "Showed that switching from private motor transport to active travel or public transport was associated with a significant reduction in BMI compared with continued private motor vehicle use.... Interventions to enable commuters to switch from private motor transport to more active modes of travel could contribute to reducing population mean BMI."

Meanwhile automobile dependent mobility in Australia has come to a standstill.
All major cities suffer from road congestion. "The report says car travel times in the most gridlocked parts of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra are expected to jump by at least 20 per cent if there no measures to boost capacity or curb demand." (source)

Australia being deficient in public transport, footpaths, cycle paths and walkable neighbourhoods will of course 'do more of the same' - build more gridlocks.

And the Australian obesity rates are climbing faster than anywhere else in the world... (source)

Impact of changes in mode of travel to work on changes in body mass index: evidence from the British Household Panel Survey,  Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health

Images:
Manly Beach, Sydney
Sculpture on road side, eu
Sawtell, NSW No bike paths, smelly cars

Demanding Safer Cycling Conditions

700 cyclist were demanding safer cycling conditions in Melbourne today. A cyclist died there last month, when she was hit by a tour bus. Despite the 'National Ride to Work Day' hype, a lot of urban planning needs to be done on Australian cities and sub-urbia.
Safe, physically separated cycle and walking paths, before all the gadgets of helmets, fluorescent plastic clothing etc. Provide the infrastructure for safe mobility without the stink and life-threatening dangers. Target the mind-set of 'speeding'.

Image: altered 'Time is Money', H.Haluschka,1938 via Zeno

Air Bags for Pedestrians

Finally, the air-bag for pedestrians is out. As the world's urban tanks are arming themselves with more war-like capsules etc, navigation for the unarmoured (human) body becomes a death-defying challenge in the urban environment.
Ploughing into pedestrian groups on their territory occurs more often now. A market niche could develop here, selling 'safety' gadgets to people wishing to move their bodies amongst the petrol-powered shooting objects. At this stage the gadget is intended for frail seniors and rehab.

Image: Pushy motorists Berlin, Mitte

The value of quiet and clean streets

The less driving there is through an anthropogenic environment, the more community and health is established. Traffic fragments community not just physically, but also socially. Motor traffic makes all living beings sick and disconnects them. The roar of traffic is literally eroding the quality of life. Noise, vibration and chemical particle pollution is incompatible with living bodies wanting to mingle in such polluted spaces.

"Growing car dependence is creating an epidemic of deteriorated mental and physical health associated with air and noise pollution, inactivity and road deaths and injuries."

With less carbon-intensive mobility, people perceive spaces as 'homes' in which to 'put down roots'. In a car-obsessed country like Australia, with sub-urban dwellings sprawling over the coasts it might be some time before that 'drive through-feeling' on the 'road to no-where' is replaced by sustainable mobility.
Via The Guardian 190908
Stencil, Frankfurt/Main, de