Phew. Finally. I was getting worried.

Mandatory periodic (typically annual/biannual) safety inspections are fairly common: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection

News outlets like the BBC try (in my experience most of the time, but not always) to avoid implying something without some evidence or source. The driver was probably at fault, but it could have been a mechanical failure, a panicky swerve to avoid a dog running into the road, etc. Without knowing more they report passively, which I feel is appropriate.

I don’t want to ride in the street. I want separate bike lanes. “Vehicular Cycling” was the biggest infrastructure mistake in history IMO.

First you redesign stroads with fewer car lanes and safe, unimpeded, separated bike lanes, and then you replace any unneeded roads with bike/pedestrian zones. This would improve any even slightly urbanized area.

No they’re not going to finish in a decade. That’s only the section between Merced and Bakersfield. Currently planned to finish between 2030-2033 but that’s assuming no more delays and they stay within budget, which is somewhat doubtful. A lot of work has happened, true, but not a single mile of track has actually been laid.

There is no money appropriated so far for the entire line, and so nobody has an idea when, if ever, high speed rail between SF and LA will happen.

You’re right. We absolutely could build transit solutions, but people become dejected because we don’t. At least not in many places.

I’m in the SF Bay Area. It’s been dense here for a long time and there’s plenty of tax money sloshing around, but transit improvements move glacially slowly. I want to ride my bike to work. I want to take the bus to my kids pool. But I can’t. The infrastructure isn’t there, and there is no concerted regional effort to build it. Sure, we might have high speed rail in California decades from now, but meanwhile I have to keep driving literally everywhere. Unfortunately.

Europe has a lot of suburbia too and rural areas too though. I live in the SF Bay Area. It’s population density is similar to many regions in Europe (barring ultra urban cities like capitals). Yet with this density (and loads of money) we sadly still don’t have decent public transportation here…