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Entries tagged: Crashes

In 2009, during the very first round of Advocacy Advance Grant awards, the Alliance bolstered an innovative effort by Transportation Alternatives to bring together stakeholders for safer streets in New York City. The result was a comprehensive, hard-hitting and widely read report that took the media by storm and laid out specific recommendations for improvement. Just last month, that report led to a major victory.

According to T.A., Executive Order: A Mayoral Strategy for Traffic Safety is a key reason Mayor Michael Bloomberg just signed a new law that will throw open the previously closed doors on vital, actionable traffic data. As T.A. explains in the March edition of Streetbeat, “the best advocates don’t believe in armchairs,” so their 2009 report was “hefty with actionable recommendations to improve the system.” One of the most important suggestions was aimed at the police department: Release all traffic safety data, including crashes, contributing factors and summonses. With support from the Alliance Advocacy Advance Grant, they used that springboard to launch a legislative campaign that included the Saving Lives Through Better Information Bill, a measure that addressed that public data deficiency. Last month, the bill was passed by the City Council and signed by the Mayor.

“The Saving Lives Through Better Information bill was T.A.‘s brainchild because we understand enforcement will only get better with better data,” T.A. explains in Streetbeat. “Because of T.A. advocacy, soon each month every NYPD precinct will publish online:

• Locations of every crash, pinpointing dangerous locations
• Number of crashes, fatalities and injuries of motor vehicle drivers and passengers, cyclists and pedestrians
• Contributing factors (like unsafe speed or red light running) that caused each crash, creating a priority list for summonsing efforts
• Summonses issued, indicating whether precincts are responding to problems

This summer will come with access to a wealth of information that before was hidden—all in real data you can take right to your precinct Community Council and ask what for.”

Click here to read more about T.A.’s innovative campaigns. Learn more about Advocacy Advance grants here. 

On 2009 Bike to Work Day, Cascade Bicycle Club introduced bikewise, a place to learn about and report bike crashes, hazards, and thefts. “By sharing our experiences with each other, and with researchers and relevant agencies, we aim to make biking safer and more fun.” They have already gathered reports from over twenty-five states and eight countries.

Visit http://www.bikewise.org to ad your reports, or check out http://www.cascade.org for more information.