Almost everyone agrees that where you live has more influence on your life experience and expectancy than any other factor.
Where you walk, bike, or run determines the safety of your outings on the road. In our current pandemic, getting out of your home while physically distancing has become a great way of staying sane and maintaining conditioning. But you want to feel and be safe.
This concern about safety was highlighted in a recently published comprehensive report, “City Limits, Setting Safe Speed Limits on Urban Streets,” with the following quotes:
“Between 2009 and 2018, pedestrian deaths from traffic crashes in the US grew by 46%, reaching a nearly 3-decade high of 7,354 people killed by vehicles in 2018 alone. This rate means that people walking and biking are an increasingly large percentage of all fatalities on the road. For the past five years, pedestrians and cyclists have accounted for almost 20% of all road fatalities, despite making up only 11% of road users. And this number is on the rise. From 2008 to 2018, cyclist and pedestrian fatalities increased by 38% versus a 12% decline for vehicle occupants.
More than 35,000 people die in traffic crashes on US roads each year, and millions more are seriously and often permanently injured. The United States has the highest fatality rate in the industrialized world—double the rate in Canada and quadruple that in Europe. While traffic fatalities may seem like an intractable issue, city governments have the power to reduce the frequency and severity of traffic crashes by reducing motor vehicle speeds.”
Re-engineering streets and building new roads are opportunities to create a network of complete streets—planned, designed, operated, and maintained to enable safe, convenient, and comfortable travel, with access for users of all ages and abilities regardless of their mode of transportation. Complete Streets provide safe travel for those walking, cycling, driving automobiles, riding public transportation, or delivering goods.
An equally important and sensitive subject, surprisingly related to public safety, is racism.
Black, indigenous, and Latin people are more likely than white people to be struck and killed. Over decades, lower income neighborhoods have suffered from underinvestment in infrastructure, particularly as societal focus shifted from urban to suburban growth. Major highways built over or cutting through existing neighborhoods changed their character and walkability. Living on the “other side of the tracks” has had serious consequences by lowering lifestyle and safety.
Two other very disturbing facts are highlighted in the same report:
Better designed streets that decrease speeding would reduce both the need for police enforcement and the total number of police encounters. Automated traffic applications, cameras, and other devices can help keep everyone safe while avoiding direct confrontation.
“Safety for all road users must be set as the foremost goal, and all decisions—about speed, infrastructure, allocation of parking and other curbside uses, enforcement, and maintenance— must be made based on how well they advance work toward zero deaths. By taking a holistic, Safe Systems approach to street design, cities can reduce speeds, build safer streets, and save lives.” This quote in the “City Limits” report is a well-articulated, worthwhile goal.
Please consider reviewing the entire report to learn more about controlling speed, decreasing mortality, employing tools, and implementing recommendations.