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Entries tagged: Bicyclist Safety

Last week, advocates at Transportation Alternatives turned the spotlight on a stunning fact: Over the past 10 years, more New Yorkers have been killed by traffic than murdered by guns.

This crime against city residents is outlined in Vision Zero: How Safer Streets in New York City Can Save More Than 100 Lives a Year, a report from T.A. and the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. According to the analysis, traffic violence takes the life of a New Yorker every 35 hours, with an average of 317 fatalities and 3,774 serious injuries per year.

“New York’s streets are downright deadly,” Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, said in a press release about the report. “Though the city has made impressive strides in recent years to reduce traffic fatalities, traffic violence still claims the lives of hundreds of New Yorkers every year and seriously injures thousands more: over 70,000 people every year. Any number higher than zero is simply unacceptable. It’s time to challenge the culture of acceptance that acts like traffic is as uncontrollable as weather, and get serious about saving lives.”

The report commends recent improvements to the city’s streets — like bike lanes, curb extensions, speed bumps and narrower intersections — which have helped reduce fatalities. But that progress is just the first step in a much longer journey to catch up with leading cities, like Berlin, Paris and Stockholm. Those models, the advocates explain, provide a road map for saving lives. “If New York’s traffic fatality rate were the same as Stockholm’s, for instance, there would have been 1,195 fewer traffic fatalities between 2001 and 2007,” the authors’ point out. “If the rate were the same as Berlin’s, 1,426 live would have been saved. Thousands of life-altering injuries would also have been avoided.”

But the report isn’t just an outline of infrastructure recommendations. To truly transform the transportation system, the city must directly confront the deadly culture of acceptance — the notion that “accidents” are unavoidable. “New Yorkers must understand the human costs and the ethical implications of traffic crashes,” the report emphasizes. “Otherwise it will be difficult to gain the political support necessary to implement changes to the streetscape.”

That’s where T.A.‘s exciting, new campaign — Vision Zero — comes in.

“The release of the report kicks off a robust street safety campaign called Vision Zero,” the advocates announced last week. “Vision Zero means zero deaths, zero injuries and zero fear of traffic. The Vision Zero campaign will directly target one of the largest obstacles to street safety: the culture of acceptance. By educating New Yorkers and policymakers on the scope of the danger, as well as challenging the unspoken assumption that traffic violence is unavoidable, Transportation Alternatives will build momentum and support for real solutions. To that end, T.A. will continue to release reports and hold events highlighting the dangers of traffic violence. T.A. will also work with community partners and public officials to deploy the policies recommended by the Vision Zero report to reduce these dangers, with the goal of eliminating them completely.”

Click here to download the report.

Illegal driving habits, including red light running, speeding and illegal right turns on red put bicyclists and pedestrians in danger every day. These risky and irresponsible behaviors contributed to more than 4,090 pedestrian and 630 cyclist fatalities in 2009, amounting to 12 percent of all traffic fatalities.

To help prevent further tragedies, the Alliance has joined the Traffic Safety Coalition as one of 42 partners working to create a safer environment on our roads for drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

“The Alliance is committed to making our roads safer for pedestrians and bicyclists,” Jeff Miller, Alliance President / CEO, says. “Through education and advocacy, we are working to support sound traffic safety policies and technology – such as traffic safety cameras – to make our roads safer.”

The TFC is a nonprofit, grassroots organization comprised of concerned citizens, traffic safety experts, law enforcement, public officials, victims’ advocates, health care professionals, and industry leaders working to promote technology and education programs that save lives and keep our roads safe. Current TSC campaigns include “Respect Red,” which targets intersection safety to prevent and deter red light running, and “Slow Down,” which aims to reduce the number of fatal crashes caused by chronic speeding.

“Pedestrians and cyclists are too often the innocent victims of red light running and speeding,” say Sue and Paul Oberhauser, co-chairs of the Traffic Safety Coalition. “We’re eager to work with the Alliance and other pedestrian and bicyclist advocates to educate the public about the importance of safe driving habits and provide law enforcement and cities with the ability to enforce critical traffic safety laws.”

Already a number of Alliance member organizations are part of this important effort, including Consider Biking, the Active Transportation Alliance, League of Illinois Bicyclists and New Orleans Metro Bicycle Coalition. Find out more and get involved at www.trafficsafetycoalition.com.