It's a reinforcing phenomenon, with helicopter parenting being one of the facets. The usual way it goes is
1. Parents say the street / road is too dangerous.
2. Parents drive their kids everywhere.
3. They induce more road usage, demand more road infrastructure. They move to suburbs which are more car centric, force more pedestrianized areas (downtowns) to become more car centric.
4. Places become less walkable, and more dangerous for people outside of a car.
5. Go to 1.
Some of helicopter parenting is mostly over imagined or exaggerated fears ("crime", being abducted by predators which is rather rare, etc), but fear of car death is in fact valid given it is a leading cause of child death (was number 1 until this year gun death became #1). The unfortunate reality is the very act parents in the US take to make it safe for their children perpetuates the issue the ecogecko video I talk about has.
Given at this point no one will let their children be the first to face danger, likely the issue will not ameliorate itself naturally, and government action (pedestrianization, change of streetscapes, change of landuse and zoning, etc) is required.
Anyway, rereading your post, cars aren't the only factor in childhood stunting in the US. I'm not sure because I haven't researched outside of the car centric bits (that is supported in research) but it does feel like a culture wide issue in the US.
About the self-reinforcement: London is a great example of how to evade this trend.
You see, London pedestrians seem almost suicidal. They often cross the road without even looking. In addition, by law traffic-lights in the UK are only advisory for pedestrians: crossing the road when the lights are red is legal and common.
Individually, each 'suicidal' pedestrian endangers their own life. But collectively they train drivers to watch out and make London safer for everyone.
It feels like some sort of inversion of the tragedy of the commons.
(London still has helicopter parents. At least more than they used to have in previous decades. But the feedback loop seems weaker than what you describe for the US.)
1. Parents say the street / road is too dangerous.
2. Parents drive their kids everywhere.
3. They induce more road usage, demand more road infrastructure. They move to suburbs which are more car centric, force more pedestrianized areas (downtowns) to become more car centric.
4. Places become less walkable, and more dangerous for people outside of a car.
5. Go to 1.
Some of helicopter parenting is mostly over imagined or exaggerated fears ("crime", being abducted by predators which is rather rare, etc), but fear of car death is in fact valid given it is a leading cause of child death (was number 1 until this year gun death became #1). The unfortunate reality is the very act parents in the US take to make it safe for their children perpetuates the issue the ecogecko video I talk about has.
Given at this point no one will let their children be the first to face danger, likely the issue will not ameliorate itself naturally, and government action (pedestrianization, change of streetscapes, change of landuse and zoning, etc) is required.
Anyway, rereading your post, cars aren't the only factor in childhood stunting in the US. I'm not sure because I haven't researched outside of the car centric bits (that is supported in research) but it does feel like a culture wide issue in the US.
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