Motor City Madness
Part of the problem, as explained in this article, is a pestilence of personal injury lawyers who work for a percentage of damages. I'm sure this practice of no up-front fees makes the legal system more accessible for some people--especially those who can't afford to pay a lawyer's hourly rate--but on the whole it seems, well, rapacious.
Maybe that's too strong a word, but it's verging on predatory. The marketing is often aimed at people who are suffering. The message is one of entitlement and "victims'" rights. The process focuses on maximizing the awarded damages. And insurance companies, faceless corporations with deep pockets, are the indirect targets of the claims.
(The first personal injury lawyer in Edmonton to advertise in any significant way was a guy named James Brown (now James H. Brown). He used to have billboards around town with the slogan "Hit by a drunk driver? Call James Brown." This was a source of much amusement.)
A recent study revealed that Edmonton drivers are the worst in Canada. A traffic cop quoted in the article says: "People in Edmonton seem to compete for every inch of the roadway. They consider it to be theirs."
This statement conveniently explains both our bad driving and the preponderance of Ford Excursions and Chevy Avalanches on our roads. A bigger vehicle means that at any given moment you own more of the road than your fellow motorists (plus it offers the tantalizing possibility of driving over other cars, and crushing them, on the way to the hockey game).
Edmonton, more than other Canadian cities I've visited, is a driving city. Its boom periods coincided with the rise of car culture. As a result the city is spread out, and it continues to grow outward at a pretty rapid pace. (Population growth was 9% between 1996 and 2001. Calgary paced the nation at 16%; Edmonton was fourth. And here's a disgusting figure from the Statistics Canada census highlights: "Between 1996 and 2001, Calgary accounted for 47% of the total growth of Alberta." That certainly explains its seemingly endless sprawl.)
Edmonton's suburbs, where people build their McMansions, are particularly auto-centric. Getting basic necessities like milk or bread requires the use of a car (that is, unless you want to walk several kilometres to your friendly neighbourhood Megafoodopolis).
Add to that four months of deep winter, and a lack of flexible public transportation, and it's hard to get by without a car.
