Someone commented yesterday on a post I wrote back in January with the riveting title “New Study Shows 20 mph Speed Limit Drastically Reduce Injury and Death“. Said commenter seemed to think that the idea of embracing slower speed limits, even if it has been shown to dramatically reduce death, was crazy.
The post cited a study published in the British Medical Journal revealing that the introduction of 20 mph zones was associated with a 41.9% reduction in road casualties, and that the greatest reduction in fatalities was in younger children.
Just because we’re used to driving 25mph or 30 or 40mph in cities or towns where people live, just because that’s what we see around us, just because our parents did it — doesn’t mean that we’re stuck with it forever.
We can learn and grow. When we find out new information that can help save people’s lives, we can progress, we can evolve, and we can adapt to incorporate those life-saving behaviors into our lives and routines.
This world belongs to all of us, and we need start living consciously as though we share it with 6 billion other people.
We can, and should change it.
If you’re interested, here is a rather gruesome video montage that someone sent me yesterday. It’s disturbing and illustrates some of the dangers of speeding and distracted driving. (Warning: real footage mixed in with PSAs and some bits with actors)
This is the soundtrack for my exploration stroll the other day around my neighborhood, East Allegheny in Pittsburgh. Unless you loathe R.E.M., it is a good accompaniment to reading this post.
Several times in the past I have celebrated my neighborhood and home on the North Side of Pittsburgh. But I have to tell you that I exaggerated a little and omitted a lot.
There are many beautiful areas of the North Side and much of it is quaint, wonderful, and convenient. But I have to confess: I live on the OTHER North Side, the part that was cut in half by a neighborhood dividing highway.
Highway to Hell
The parts that contain all the amenities like the National Aviary, the Andy Warhol Museum, coffee shops, grocery stores, and parks are all on the other side of this highway:
That is the scene I have to ride or walk across when heading to other, more lovelier parts of the North Side.
And if I want to go downtown or shopping in the Strip District, I find myself faced with these (rude) anti-pedestrian signs:
Riding bikes is not as challenging since you’re on the road, but if you are trying to get around by foot, as are children and many elderly who do not own cars, it is a death-trap.
Run for Your Lives!
Getting to the bus stop is quite perilous and I waited through three lights at one intersection waiting for a pedestrian signal.
I assume most drivers don’t carry a microscope when they drive, but if they did, they might be able to see the faded lines of the former crosswalk. Otherwise, the former crosswalk is pretty easy to miss.
Then your friendly pedestrian must run across another faded crosswalk, but this time there is a light for the walker! But nope.
Over 50 cars drove by in three light cycles and not one stopped to let me cross, so I finally had to just make a run for it to cross this eyesore of an intersection:
What if you depend on a wheelchair to get around?
It’d be nearly impossible to get around this neighborhood.
What if you use a wheelchair to get around and don’t have a car?
Seems like that should be hazardous enough, right? How much more must danger one person face just to walk one mile?
I’m fairly young and in shape, I ride a bike and move around all the time and this area is really difficult for me to navigate.
Imagine how dangerous these streets are for people who are older, maybe less fit and less able to make a run for it across the street.
Streets for all, not just those who can run for their lives!
But if I want to get my groceries from the Strip District, I still have to get to the 16th Street Bridge and walk past the highway exit where this sizable vehicle powered up to the sidewalk where I was standing:
And though I wasn’t trying to walk onto the highway, seeing this sign shouting “Pedestrians Prohibited” just reinforced how unwelcome I felt in the city as a person walking.
Pedestrians Prohibited
Intimidatingly Large Truck
By this point I’d walked less than half a mile but it took me nearly 20 minutes with all the waiting and trying not to die.
This area is incredibly unfriendly to pedestrians and many people do not have the luxury of investing a substantial amount of their income on a vehicle.
We need, very soon:
Crosswalks to be repainted
Pedestrian crossing signals at all intersections
Can you think of any other easy-to-implement solutions that could make this area safer for everyone?
Like this post?
Sign up below to (Re-) Imagine an Urban Paradise from the comfort of your email.
Processing…
Success! You're on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
A couple of hours ago I was riding my bike on Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh when a woman driving behind me suddenly accelerated and swerved to the right to pass the car in front of her.
But the lane wasn’t empty.
I was there. I was riding my bicycle and she didn’t look before she nearly plowed into me.
Luckily at least I was paying attention (and not texting) and was able to react quickly. I slammed on my brakes and swerved out of the way.
It was the middle of the day and I was dressed in the brightest clothes I own (which says a lot to those of you who know me) so I was definitely visible.
Below is something of a reenactment photographed by my charming roommate. Mostly it’s just to show how bright my clothing was. Short of covering myself in hundreds of lights, I can’t get that much more visible in the middle of the day.
I embrace the hell out of safety because I love my life.
And I always ride with a helmet covered with flames of safety!
Re-enactment on my tiny street that rarely has car traffic
To everyone: please pay attention. Let’s just look out for each other and slow down a bit.
Washington, DC, where I cut my teeth on a bicycle, was ranked number 13. I wrote about DC biking culture and infrastructure for Momentum magazine last year, but even in a year, a lot of dramatic improvements have been made.
When I was researching the story for Momentum, I organized a happy hour to get the feel of what average riders and advocates wanted to see changed to make the city better. The top four recommendations kept surfacing again and again:
Impose a congestion/commuter tax on those who drive into the city from Virginia and Maryland. Since the population of Washington nearly doubles to a million during the work week, it is logical that those drivers who benefit from our roads ought to pay for them.
Install cycle tracks (bike lanes) on all arterials and on all future construction.
Initiate a widespread education campaign about the rules of the road, sharing, and how to be both a safe driver and rider; delivered through PSAs, driver education programs and public schools
Complete the trails that are unfinished, repair those in disrepair, and begin construction on all others.
What elements do you consider important in your decision to ride, or to not ride, your bike?
Washington, DC, where I cut my teeth on a bicycle, was ranked number 13. I wrote about DC biking culture and infrastructure for Momentum magazine last year, but even in a year, a lot of dramatic improvements have been made.
When I was researching the story for Momentum, I organized a happy hour to get the feel of what average riders and advocates wanted to see changed to make the city better. The top four recommendations kept surfacing again and again:
Impose a congestion/commuter tax on those who drive into the city from Virginia and Maryland. Since the population of Washington nearly doubles to a million during the work week, it is logical that those drivers who benefit from our roads ought to pay for them.
Install cycle tracks (bike lanes) on all arterials and on all future construction.
Initiate a widespread education campaign about the rules of the road, sharing, and how to be both a safe driver and rider; delivered through PSAs, driver education programs and public schools
Complete the trails that are unfinished, repair those in disrepair, and begin construction on all others.
What elements do you consider important in your decision to ride, or to not ride, your bike?
I was bowled over last week when I saw the Action Agenda from Washington, D.C.’s Department of Transportation. I was really excited to share some of the best parts of it, but now a bunch of time has passed and many other people have already analyzed it so I’ll just send you in their direction.
The WashCycle calls the plan “very exciting stuff,” noting that “If they pull half of this off, it’ll start to look a lot like Portland around here…It’s like our DMV has grown up into a real Transportation Department.”
Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space‘s Richard Layman says the Agenda “refocuses the transportation agenda on what we might call complete places and sustainable and optimal transportation and linking land use and transportation planning and objectives. It appears to extend the thinking of the Transportation element from the DC Comprehensive Plan in a more integrated fashion.”
Overall, I am really, really impressed.
I am especially excited about the plan to educate new drivers about bicycle and pedestrian safety. Although I think it should be incorporated into license renewal procedures for already licensed drivers… And even better would be if DOT and the Department of Education worked together to incorporate bicycle safety and use into the curriculum at an early age, as is standard in many European countries that have a much lower dependence on automotive transportation.
Things are looking up in Washington, DC where I was a pedestrian, cyclist, public transportation aficionado for nearly eight years. I’m excited to see what happens next.
My recommendation for Action Agenda 2014 is free public transportation.
Over the weekend Pittsburgh and much of the East Coast received record amounts of snow. With nearly two feet of snow in my lovely hilly city, plows were ineffective, and cars were essentially trapped in their parking spaces. While understandably frustrating for many, the streets became a de facto party space for pedestrians.
Almost totally devoid of cars, people took their sleds, their skis, and their snowboards to the steep streets that seemed to be made for this purpose. Everyone was reveling in the ability to walk in the middle of the street without worrying about cars, and to use the topography of the land for great amounts of fun.
Unfortunately my camera battery became “exhausted” and I was not able to get a pictures of the guy commuting to a party on his snowboard, the people skiing down Fisk and Main Streets, or the sledders who flew down the middle of the road, giddy and yelping with delight.
Here are some night shots of empty streets. The electrical wires covered in snow make me want to have a block party!
Fisk St. in the Snow
This hill is half a mile long and made for excellent sledding. There was a lot of talk that night about how great streets are without cars, and I agree.
Wouldn’t it be nice if one out of ten streets going in any direction were just for pedestrians or nonmotorized transport?
There certainly are plenty of roads that cars are free to use, why not set some aside for people who aren’t traveling in a steel box, for people want to walk or ride in the middle of their streets and call out to their neighbors? For children who want to play safely in the streets, and their parents who don’t want to worry about them.
Germany has something like this called play streets. I write about it here, and we could use it HERE.
Results: The introduction of 20 mph zones was associated with a 41.9% (95% confidence interval 36.0% to 47.8%) reduction in road casualties, after adjustment for underlying time trends. The percentage reduction was greatest in younger children and greater for the category of killed or seriously injured casualties than for minor injuries. There was no evidence of casualty migration to areas adjacent to 20 mph zones, where casualties also fell slightly by an average of 8.0% (4.4% to 11.5%).
Conclusions: 20 mph zones are effective measures for reducing road injuries and deaths.”
It’s unconscionable to have this information available and not make changes to save people’s lives.
By enacting effective traffic calming measures, communities may allow cars and pedestrians to exist harmoniously, greatly reducing the likelihood of serious injury or death. The U.S. would do well to emulate Germany’s example which of “Spielstrasse“, or play streets, in which the pedestrian may use the entire street and the speed limit is walking pace. Speaking to Momentum magazine, play street resident Anne Arnold-Winkenbach observes “that drivers sometimes go too fast down the street… Ten (6.2 mph), 15 (9.3 mph), sometimes even 20 km/h (12.4 mph).”
Authors of the British study note that “20mph zones in London save 200 lives a year, but this could increase to 700 if plans to extend the zones were implemented.”
Results: The introduction of 20 mph zones was associated with a 41.9% (95% confidence interval 36.0% to 47.8%) reduction in road casualties, after adjustment for underlying time trends. The percentage reduction was greatest in younger children and greater for the category of killed or seriously injured casualties than for minor injuries. There was no evidence of casualty migration to areas adjacent to 20 mph zones, where casualties also fell slightly by an average of 8.0% (4.4% to 11.5%).
Conclusions: 20 mph zones are effective measures for reducing road injuries and deaths.”
It’s unconscionable to have this information available and not make changes to save people’s lives.
By enacting effective traffic calming measures, communities may allow cars and pedestrians to exist harmoniously, greatly reducing the likelihood of serious injury or death. The U.S. would do well to emulate Germany’s example which of “Spielstrasse“, or play streets, in which the pedestrian may use the entire street and the speed limit is walking pace. Speaking to Momentum magazine, play street resident Anne Arnold-Winkenbach observes “that drivers sometimes go too fast down the street… Ten (6.2 mph), 15 (9.3 mph), sometimes even 20 km/h (12.4 mph).”
Authors of the British study note that “20mph zones in London save 200 lives a year, but this could increase to 700 if plans to extend the zones were implemented.”
(This is the conclusion of a four part series on my quest to get a stop sign in Brookland. Start with part 1, part 2, and part 3).
Admittedly, I am pretty behind with this update, but it is fairly exciting to be writing about the new stop sign after writing about Brookland desperately needing traffic calming, the decade long quest for a stop sign by Brookland residents, and when traffic studies studies, and resident requests fail, accosting the mayor at a coffee shop.
The new pedestrian preservation device at 12th and Newton NE.
I’m told that it was fairly ineffective upon initial installation. Drivers unaccustomed to a stop sign sped through the intersection, pedestrians sprinted, dodging cars.
Both drivers and pedestrians took some time to get to this simple sign which powerfully and simply indicates that the street belongs to everyone, regardless of size, speed, economic status, physical impairment. Each person gets their turn to proceed in order of arrival, safely.
I would like to thank persistent neighbors and friends in Brookland, Mayor Fenty for being responsive to resident concerns and for introducing me to his staff to assist in getting the petitions and the stop sign, and especially Sybongile Cook, the Mayor’s Outreach Coordinator for Ward 1. Even though she doesn’t represent Brookland which is Ward 5, Ms. Cook was incredibly helpful in getting me the materials and contacts necessary to proceed with the stop sign request.
I was back in D.C. for the holidays and got to see the stop sign for the first time. I actually forgot that it was there and was baffled to see drivers waiting patiently in their cars at the crosswalk. I stepped into the crosswalk, sure that one of the drivers would decide I’d taken too long and accelerate, but that didn’t happen. I noticed the short line of cars waiting, remembered the stop sign, and yelped with excitement. I really did, I yelped.
I was so thrilled I crossed the street again. And drivers waited. And other pedestrians crossed too, now walking without fear.
Then I crossed for the third time, satisfied with the resolution to a year-long quest for a safer street in Brookland, and moved to Pittsburgh.
Like this post?
Sign up below to (Re-) Imagine an Urban Paradise from the comfort of your email.
Processing…
Success! You're on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
Reimagine an Urban Paradise 