Streets
Image: NACTO
America’s road violence crisis
Everyone deserves to travel safely in their neighborhood, whether they are walking, biking, or driving.
However:
“For decades, the United States has prioritized the needs of people driving through cities over the well-being of the people living in them, and largely at the expense of communities with the least political clout. Adopting the framing of Vision Zero without finding sufficient funding and political will for road redesign is simply not good enough. Our elected officials must be willing to face an unpleasant set of facts: that the appalling racial disparity in road deaths continues on their watch, and that nearly every killing of a cyclist or pedestrian by a car is preventable.”
With rare exception, all levels of government in the United States are failing to address the crisis. The devastation of road violence is increasing despite more governments declaring commitments to the contrary.
Adoption of a zero-tolerance policy (such as Vision Zero or Safe System Approach) is a necessary but insufficient step. For example, if city elected officials have committed to Vision Zero, but they — or the staff who report to them — prove unwilling to implement inexpensive and effective road design changes, the city will not achieve zero deaths and serious injuries.
The roadway changes required to make our roadways safe often contradict the antiquated training and culture of the government employees in charge of implementing the changes.
Activists and elected officials need to demand that proven safety countermeasures are implemented and hold the appropriate individuals accountable if they fail to do so.
If a municipality or state DOT continues to use “traffic modeling,” motorist “level of service,” or future volume projections in their deliberations about roadway safety, this means they are using the same metrics that created the dangerous auto-centric infrastructure that we have today. While it is possible to implement effective countermeasures using these faulty tools, it is more likely that they will have a negative impact.