Safety
Basics
NTSB: Speed Kills, and We’re Not Doing Enough to Stop It
More than 112,500 people lost their lives in speed-related crashes from 2005 to 2014, accounting for 31 percent of all traffic deaths in America over that period. In a draft report released earlier this week, the National Transportation Safety Board says excessive speed is a deadly problem in our nation's transportation system -- one that federal and state officials aren't doing enough to address.
July 27, 2017
Self-Driving Cars Should Accommodate People, Not the Other Way Around
You think victim-blaming is bad now? Making everyone walk or bike with a "don't hit me" device would further penalize the most vulnerable.
July 25, 2017
Why Are Florida’s Streets So Deadly for Cycling?
A recent study funded by the Florida Department of Transportation takes an in-depth look at why the state's streets are so deadly -- and what can be done to change that.
July 21, 2017
How Ethical Is Your Driving?
Most of us who drive don't spend much time weighing the morals of our behavior as motorists, but we should. Otherwise, by the time the ethical implications of our behavior are clear, it's probably going to be too late.
July 14, 2017
What Do Drivers Really Think of Cyclists?
There's ample research out there backing up the safety benefits of streets with protected bikeways and slow car speeds. But what about the critically important yet less tangible factor of individual attitudes -- how does the mind of the person behind the wheel affect driver behavior toward cyclists? A new report from Portland State University looks at the question.
June 28, 2017
Can Algorithms Design Safer Intersections?
Cities and tech firms are deploying new technology to gauge risks at dangerous intersections. These sensors, cameras, and machine-learning algorithms are promising, especially when it comes to measuring close calls that don't result in crashes - but cities are still figuring out how they can use this information. In the meantime, there's no reason to wait on designing safe streets.
June 7, 2017
Blaming People for Wearing Black Wins the Prize for Anti-Pedestrian Idiocy
It takes a special kind of callousness to say that pedestrians are making city streets dangerous by wearing black. And yet, that's exactly what the Seattle Times did this weekend.
May 31, 2017
Attempting to Gauge the Impact of “Near-Miss” Incidents on Houston’s Streets
We've all had this experience while walking or biking -- someone cutting us off, or swerving, leaving us catching our breath and thinking, "That was close." Close encounters, just inches away from being a collision, have a big impact on how we think about street safety, but they're not well understood, since they're rarely, if ever, reported. A new report out of Houston attempts to gauge the impact of these "near-miss" incidents.
May 26, 2017
Milwaukee Street Safety Advocates Make Their Case With Reports for Each Council District
One of the most effective ways to get elected officials to pay attention to traffic safety is to spell out the dangers in their own districts. A new effort from a coalition in Milwaukee does just that, crafting reports for each of the city's 15 aldermanic districts on the eve of the Wisconsin Bike Summit.
May 4, 2017
AAA’s Latest Road Safety Report Ignores the Obvious: We Should Be Driving Less
The number of annual traffic deaths in America is heading in the wrong direction, climbing back above the 40,000 mark. To reverse this trend, the AAA Foundation for Road Safety this week released a report that prioritizes six road design changes it says would do the most to reduce the death toll. There's just one problem: AAA's report doesn't consider the idea that, to save lives, we should be driving less.
May 3, 2017
