Request for proposals: Dangerous by Design in the first person

Smart Growth America (SGA) is seeking an experienced videographer to help us produce two (2) short videos that share first-person stories about what it’s like to try and navigate streets that are unsafe for people walking due to street designs that prioritize moving vehicles quickly. DEADLINE EXTENDED: Please submit proposals to Steve Davis by Thursday, November 24 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Complete Streets

Ready for Action: National Pedestrian Safety Month

October marks National Pedestrian Safety Month, where the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, invites stakeholders to help “create a transportation system for all people to easily and safely walk.” But why do we need a whole month on pedestrian safety? It’s because U.S. roads continue to be … Continued

Complete Streets

Seeking individuals to develop skills around data and storytelling ahead of Dangerous by Design 2024

Applications are open for a brand new Technical Assistance (TA) program for local champions to develop the skills and knowledge needed to leverage data and storytelling to address rising pedestrian fatalities. Building on our cornerstone resource Dangerous by Design, this program will also provide participants the opportunity to engage with the upcoming edition. The deadline … Continued

Complete Streets Technical assistance

VIDEO: Pedestrian fatalities continue to rise. Here’s why.

In a conversation with CBS Sunday Morning, SGA’s Vice President of Transportation and Thriving Communities Beth Osborne explains that our roads are dangerous by design. If you watch CBS on Sunday mornings, you might have caught our own Beth Osborne talking about dangerous street design. She was joined by John Barth, who’s working on Complete … Continued

Transportation

T4A comments on Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Guidelines

On May 3, Transportation for America, a program of SGA, submitted comments in response to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) request for improvements to the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Guidelines. The MMUCC guidelines provide recommendations to state and local agencies on the collection of crash data, specifically looking at the variables … Continued

Advocacy Complete Streets

Far more people walking were struck and killed in 2021 than previously predicted

Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released final data for 2021 revealing that drivers of motor vehicles struck and killed 7,341 people while walking that year. This massive 12.4 percent increase over 2020 is both higher than predicted and illustrative of the urgent need for a better approach to gathering and collecting this data. We can’t say we care about a crisis that we are failing to measure well.

Complete Streets

Dangerous by Design 2022

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 most dangerous places in the U.S. for people walking: announcing Dangerous by Design 2022

Our newest report—Dangerous By Design—is here. More than 6,500 people were struck and killed while walking in 2020, an average of nearly 18 per day, and a 4.5 percent increase over 2019. News reports tend to blame individual behavior for these crashes, but we have another explanation for the ongoing epidemic of traffic fatalities: our streets are dangerous by design.

Complete Streets Transportation

Traffic enforcement cannot do the job of better roadway design

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

Complete Streets Transportation

When it comes to design, we must also consider the deadly impacts of ever-larger vehicles

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.

Complete Streets Transportation