If only cities in Canada and the US simply enforced traffic laws that are already on the books. But no, drivers are free to do as they please because the police does nothing. Actually, the police is part of the problem in a lot of places by double parking or stopping on bike lanes and sidewalks when they want a coffee or a donut. Cities are so human hostile in most of NA, it’s really disheartening.
>If only cities in Canada and the US simply enforced traffic laws that are already on the books
Traffic flow is generally outside the bounds of the law. Going full jackboot would just piss a lot of people off in the short term and get the law changed in the medium term.
I see it the other way: They don't enforce laws that aren't pragmatic. Double-parking is essential to getting things done in a city, and IME generally everyone acts reasonably - they don't double park when they block the entire street or in bad traffic. No law says 'you can double park, but not in these situations', but people are social animals and act intelligently. I love cities, which often bring out the best in people.
There's also a reason why it's allowed, because it generally is. Rarely have any of those things affected my day, and I appreciate that people allow me, when I need it, to double park.
In countries that have separation of powers, generally the police don't get to decide which laws to enforce, when to enforce them, and against whom. If they do this, that's police corruption.
I haven't heard of or seen a place where that's true. Where are you thinking of? It would be draconian and unrealistic - laws are not written nearly well enough to not require lots of discretion.
Yes it does block traffic. And if all double parking was completely eliminated then commerce in many dense cities would essentially grind to halt. If you have to make a delivery and literally all the parking spots are taken then what do you do?
Most parking garages can't even accommodate delivery vehicles. And do you seriously expect a UPS or FedEx driver to park blocks away and then bring packages on foot? That's just completely detached from reality.
Moving is one time this is awkward. There's basically no practical way to "legally" move out/into most apartments in Manhattan as it comes to parking and traffic enforcement.
My current building utilizes a bike lane for this purpose, I'm sure much to the dismay of bikers. The only other option is blocking much of the traffic to one of our city's lovely inter-borough bridges.
The cyclists will adjust, like everyone else. In a dense city, you can't avoid other people; you have to work with and around them all the time. There's no possibility of writing rules for it all. It's a beautiful, dynamic thing.
