If you know me, you know how much I hate cars—even though I drive one! I know that cars are essential transportation tools for many people in this car-centric country, but I strongly believe that cities would benefit from investing in public transportation, making streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians, and eliminating as many car trips as possible.
So I was disappointed to read today that pedestrian safety is headed firmly in the wrong direction. A new report by the Governors Highway Safety Association found that drivers hit and killed more pedestrians last year than any year since 1981. It also found that pedestrian fatalities are up 77 percent since 2010, and up 1 percent in 2022 from the year before. You can download the report, with a state-by-state breakdown, here.
There are a lot of speculated reasons for the increase in traffic deaths, but the consensus among safe streets experts is that our streets are "dangerous by design," and that redesigning them with walkers, cyclists, and wheelchair users in mind is the best approach to reducing traffic fatalities. But an investigation out in ProPublica today shows how difficult it can be for the US Department of Transportation to institute even the most basic, commonsense safety measures. In 2017, US DOT researchers suggested that trucks be fitted with side guards to prevent pedestrians and cyclists from falling beneath the vehicles during collisions. But the American Trucking Association successfully lobbied against any such regulation.
As I wrote yesterday, traffic safety has, like many issues, become unnecessarily partisan, with Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee hoping to eliminate automated traffic enforcement in Washington, DC, and trying to block the city from banning right turns at red lights. There are a lot of issues in modern life about which I feel helpless—climate change, the end of Roe—but this one feels decidedly fixable. We changed the landscape of American streets in 2020, and I'm confident we can do it again.
—Abigail Weinberg
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