While the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic upended many aspects of daily life, including how people get around, one terrible, long-term trend was unchanged: the alarming increase in people being struck and killed while walking. The number of people struck and killed while walking reached yet another new high in 2020. More than 6,500 people were struck and killed … Continued
the increasing size and weight of personal vehicles are also having an impact on the steadily increasing number of people struck and killed while walking. In addition to designing safer streets, improving vehicle design along four main criteria is also critical for reducing pedestrian fatalities.
This guest post from Strong Towns is a supplement to the 2022 edition of Dangerous by Design, our landmark report on the alarming increase in people being struck and killed while walking, and how the way we design our streets is part of the problem.
After reading a report like this, some reporters, residents, and local leaders may be tempted to reach for increased traffic enforcement and financial penalties as an obvious solution. But relying on enforcement and financial penalties to solve issues that stem from street design cannot solve the epidemic of traffic fatalities. And even a simple traffic … Continued
Far too many people walking, biking, and waiting for the bus die on North America’s streets. They don’t have to. Proven tools—from safer speed limit setting to safer street designs—have proven to save lives, and can quickly stem America’s traffic safety crisis. Here’s how.