Sidewalks Not All They're Cracked Up to Be

I have a problem with sidewalks. They are supposed to be relatively safe paths for pedestrians to travel down, away from the dangers of street traffic. But the fact that most sidewalks are concrete, with cracks, makes them dangerous in themselves. Especially to those with various disabilities that limit their mobility. I'm thinking chiefly of the blind, near-blind, and elderly feeble. With the elderly a bad fall, because of their aged, brittle bones, can have a fatal cascading effect, and a bad fall can be as close as the next crack in a supposedly safe sidewalk. Cracks are put there to keep the expanding concrete intact, but what often happens is that shifts in the underlying ground will cause one segment of the sidewalk to lift slightly in relation to the next, causing a tripping hazard where the two segments meet. But one doesn't need to have a disability to be in danger: I have come close to some pretty awful falls myself while running on sidewalks.

And I don't know why concrete is used for sidewalks, anyway. Why not make all sidewalks from the same asphalt generally used for streets? That material, which incidentally is much softer of a surface to walk or run on than concrete, is not subject to the same cracking under pressure and thus doesn't require built-in cracks.

Last year (and into January this year), part of my long-distance training course involved running on sidewalks part of the way. I will not be doing this again, though. I must take care of my body and try to prevent injuries, especially to my feet, legs, and knees. It makes me wince to see others pounding down sidewalks while jogging, especially when I know that they have alternatives to this. I know at least that I won't be wincing at myself!