Obstructive Ornamental Horticulture

I realize that even if I do everything I can while driving to be safe, there will still be a risk of something happening beyond my control.  Yet it angers me when I consider the strange phenomenon of ornamental horticulture in parking lots that seem to deliberately obstruct my view of moving traffic when I have to make a decision while at a stop sign whether to go or not.  The above two photos I took this afternoon at my local Publix shopping plaza illustrate my point: one moment it's clear and then suddenly here comes this vehicle barreling down past the hedge row...which seemed to be consciously planted in such a fashion as to obstruct my view and is continuing to be trimmed to maintain that concealment of potential traffic.  I don't get it...I myself love ornamental horticulture and the cultivating and shaping of plants is something that I appreciate seeing, especially in what would otherwise be barren, desolate asphalt lots.  But why can't those contracted out to design and maintain this horticulture show some common sense consideration for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians and be careful to make sure that the view is clear at intersections and that vision of oncoming cars isn't blocked?  Yet I never hear anyone but myself complain...backing up just two or three feet further from the road before they start with the shrubbery would greatly enhance safety and still beautify the area.  I've seen much worse obstruction than in these two pictures, and my workplace employee parking lot is ridiculous in this regard.  You'd think that with all the regulations that businesses have to undergo at the local level that there would be ordinances to restrict this sort of thing...especially here in Gainesville where the local government seems to have some sort of phobia about businesses displaying signs.  Go figure...

Shopping Cart Design Unsafe

When I began working at the post office many years ago, I thought they had it all backwards with their rolling equipment. Designed to transport mail from one location to another within the mail processing plants as well as into (and out of) trucks, they come in different sizes and shapes: the U-Cart, the Hamper, the GPC (general-purpose-cart), the Cage, and the BMC (bulk-mail-cart). Except for some old types of hampers, all of the rolling equipment features turnable wheels (can change direction) on one end and locked wheels (can only go forwards or backwards) on the other, similar in design to the typical shopping cart I would use in stores. The only problem was that I (and most everyone else) was accustomed to the store carts with the turning, steering wheels at the cart's narrow front. But except for the small u-cart, the other postal equipment is designed strictly for pushing from the end where the turnable wheels are. They also consider it to be an important safety issue to push from this prescribed end, with notices to this effect placed on the equipment itself. At first I felt awkward pushing around carts like this, but then quickly realized that by doing so I had much more steering leverage with the steering wheels close to me.

The only postal rolling equipment that has the steerable wheels away from the operator is the small u-cart, and its front end is tapered and relatively narrow, much like the old-fashioned shopping carts. I know that this tapering was no design accident, as it mitigates the lost steering leverage with the "moving" wheels being in front by preventing too much weight from being put into the front of the cart. But nowadays, stores have come out with rectangular-shaped shopping carts with as much storage room in front as in the back. And this can create a greater hazard for injury and accident. The shopper, often someone who is frail or even handicapped in some way, has enough of a burden just steering around one of these carts when it is empty; it can get to be overwhelming when loaded down with groceries! This wouldn't have presented a problem if the cart designers had switched the cart handles around when they changed its shape.

When I go shopping for groceries at my local Publix (which is one of those places with the rectangular carts), I often push the cart around (very adroitly, I must say) from the so-called "wrong" end, often eliciting worried glances from my fellow shoppers. But they are the ones who are working against the laws of physics affecting the strain on their bodies and their difficulty in steering and stopping. Not only do these shopping carts present a hazard for those pushing them, but also for anyone unfortunate enough to be in the path of a "pusher" who has lost control of such a cart.