Stockholm’s ’gender-equal’ snow-clearing policy is not to blame for the traffic chaos which has engulfed the Swedish capital, the architect of the policy has claimed.
“Gender equal snow-cleaning is not to blame here,” Daniel Helldén, the city’s Green Party transport head told the Expressen newspaper, stressing that the policy, which prioritises cleaning pavements and cycle lanes over roads, did not even appear to have even been followed.
“There is a lack of gender equal snow-clearing now, according to the reports I’m getting,” he said. “It’s still difficult to walk on the pavements — and it is important that snow-clearing prioritises walkways, public transport and cycle paths.”
Stockholm’s municipal government, a coalition of the Social Democrats and the Green Party, brought in gender equal snow cleaning last year, pledging to make moving around the city on icy winter days just as safe for women as it is for men.
Men are statistically more likely to be drivers, while women are more likely to use pavements, cycle paths, and public transport.
But on Thursday and Friday, the policy came under renewed criticism after the city was thrown into chaos by the unusually heavy snow dump, with buses and trains cancelled, and major motorways blocked.
Why the actual fuck does this even exist in the first place. Are women just as threatened by walking down the street and accidentally falling over as men are in traffic accidents? Like seriously, prioritizing footpaths and bicycle lanes over roads (say goodbye to fast emergency service responses) is probably the dumbest thing I have seen committed in the name of gender equality.
So, NSG. Should the fucknuggets that implemented this policy be tarred and feathered? Or should women be free to stride down the snowy streets of Stockholm in stilettos whilst paramedics struggle to make it to a dying patient in snow-clogged streets?
