Saturday, June 4, 2011

Pedestrian Deaths Preventable

Over the last decade 47,700 pedestrians were killed and 688,000 were injured nationwide in automobile related traffic accidents. A startling statistic shows the relationship of pedestrian fatalities to vehicle speeds. In  "Dangerous by Design" by Transportation for America page 27 says (simplified):

"Confirming the risk of vehicle speed, our analysis of NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database shows that nearly 60 percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred on roads with speed limits of 40 mph or greater. In contrast, only 1 percent of the 45,294 pedestrian deaths ... occurred on roads with a speed limit of 20 mph or lower."

Slowing the traffic on South Coast Highway at the Hip District and Laguna Canyon Road at Broadway would balance mixed mobility on these multi-use roadways and greatly contribute to pedestrian safety. The executive summary recommends the provisions of Complete Streets nationwide to improve pedestrian safety. Read the full report here.

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