Dead Man Walking

On a quest to find out why no one walks anymore, a reporter sets out on foot and discovers the dangerous truth about the nation's sidewalks and streets.

1 minute read

January 12, 2004, 10:00 AM PST

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"I'm 24 miles and five days into a 50-mile hike west out of Washington, walking the commuter routes, the fastest roads from downtown to the suburbs. Except for a few people at bus stops here and there, I haven't seen a soul afoot. There's no one walking...walking as an option in suburban America seems to have virtually disappeared...Walking as a means of getting from here to there is 36 times more dangerous than driving... Crossing ever-widening suburban intersections had become an ordeal. I saw that older people and those with small children often couldn't make it across in time, stranded on the median, marooned as the light changed and traffic surged around them."

Thanks to C. P. Zilliacus

Sunday, January 11, 2004 in The Washington Post

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