Can the Dope help me figure out which short story I’m remembering?
It was VERY short…almost a vignette rather than a full story. It involved mother and son pedestrians in a very car-based civilization. I seem to remember people being disgusted with them for walking instead of driving or something like that.
It wasn’t Bradbury’s “The Pedestrian”, I do know that. I can’t remember an author, or a collection, or a probable decade in which it was written.
There was a story called "X Marks the Spot on the Pavements " describing a society divided into drivers and pedestrians where a little old lady crossing a street was justified in shooting at the car that was trying to run her down. Also, pedestrians dogs wore spiked collars to puncture tyres if they were run over. That’s all I remember
Fairly sure Damfino is referring to X Marks the Pedwalk (1963) by Fritz Leiber, which I think is a good bet as the story jayjay is looking for.
I have it in a car & driving themed sf anthology from the 1970s whose name I’m blanking on at the moment.
It may be X Marks The Pedwalk (I can’t find an excerpt anywhere to check). I remember that I’d just discovered the Lankhmar stories around the time I read this and it would have been natural for me to look into other Lieber works, too.
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database is always the first place to check if you know the title of the story (and sometimes if you know the author or know the anthology it’s in).