Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Podcast

The (Too-Brief) History of Traffic Violence Memorials in America

Photo: Hippopx, CC

It's our December donation drive. Click the icon above. Thanks!

Mass memorials to the victims of traffic violence are a rarity on American roads. But it wasn't always that way — and there's a fascinating history behind why so many lost lives have become virtually invisible in the public realm today.

On this episode of The Brake, Kea Wilson sits down with historian and author Peter Norton to talk about how America used to memorialize car crash deaths in the early days of the automobile, and why automakers invested so much into reshaping the way we grieve. And then they chat about what it might take to bring the national traffic violence epidemic out of the shadows, and why even everyday non-lethal road trauma deserves to be called out.

Listen in below, on Apple podcasts, or anywhere else you listen.

No time to listen — or want to dig a little deeper? Check out our earlier coverage on this topic:

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Are Thursday’s Headlines the Chicken or the Egg?

Americans love their cars, but most also don't have access to quality transit. Which is the cause, and which is the effect?

June 19, 2025

Small ‘Wonder’: Delivery Workers Protest Deactivations By New Food App Power Player

More than 50 delivery workers have had their accounts deactivated by Grubhub in the past two weeks — and they're blaming the company's new owner, a booming new player called Wonder.

June 19, 2025

Dismissed: Another Judge Throws out Another Congestion Pricing Suit

Yet another anti-congestion pricing lawsuit was thrown out today, after a state Supreme Court justice spiked a lawsuit brought by the Town of Hempstead.

June 18, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are Takin’ It to the Streets

After Saturday's protests, Sean Duffy threatened to withhold transportation funding from "rogue state actors" and cities where "rioters destroy transportation infrastructure."

June 18, 2025

The Hidden Cruelty on Our Highways: Why Sustainable Transport Advocates Must Oppose Live Animal Transport

Long-distance animal transport is a brutal, climate-intensive practice made possible by the same infrastructure that undermines walkability, divides neighborhoods, and fuels sprawl. And it's time for sustainable transportation advocates to stand up against it.

June 18, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Aren’t Second Class

Driverless cars could complete the work the automobile industry started 100 years ago by making pedestrians "second-class citizens," according to The Guardian.

June 17, 2025
See all posts