If a jumbo jet went down every month, Congress would pass laws left and right. If a consumer product injured someone every seven minutes, the feds would shut down production.
Well, that’s exactly how many Americans are being killed and injured in the act of walking pedestrian-unfriendly streets, according to our report, out today. But in the case of pedestrian safety, our federal tax dollars actually go to build streets that are designed to be perilous to children, the elderly and everyone else.
And yet, right now, some in Congress are trying to kill funding for projects to make it safer to walk and bicycle!
Well, that’s exactly how many Americans are being killed and injured in the act of walking pedestrian-unfriendly streets, according to our report, out today. But in the case of pedestrian safety, our federal tax dollars actually go to build streets that are designed to be perilous to children, the elderly and everyone else.
And yet, right now, some in Congress are trying to kill funding for projects to make it safer to walk and bicycle!
Join us - ask your representative and senators in Washington to show us that they take pedestrian and bike fatalities seriously.
Our Dangerous by Design research found that more than 47,700 Americans were struck and killed while walking and another 688,000 were injured from 2000 to 2009. The highways-only lobby insists that pedestrian safety is a “frill” and a local responsibility. But 67 percent of these fatalities over the last 10 years occurred on federal-aid roads — roads eligible to receive federal funding or with federal guidelines or oversight for their design.
That’s right: Federal programs have encouraged state departments of transportation to prioritize speeding traffic over the safety of people in our neighborhoods and shopping districts.
The irony is that fixing these conditions is relatively cheap: Existing funds for that purpose – now targeted for elimination -- amount to less than 1.5 percent of the current federal transportation outlay. A policy of giving federal support only to “complete streets” that are designed for the safety of people on foot or bicycle as well as in cars would cost next to nothing.
Our Dangerous by Design research found that more than 47,700 Americans were struck and killed while walking and another 688,000 were injured from 2000 to 2009. The highways-only lobby insists that pedestrian safety is a “frill” and a local responsibility. But 67 percent of these fatalities over the last 10 years occurred on federal-aid roads — roads eligible to receive federal funding or with federal guidelines or oversight for their design.
That’s right: Federal programs have encouraged state departments of transportation to prioritize speeding traffic over the safety of people in our neighborhoods and shopping districts.
The irony is that fixing these conditions is relatively cheap: Existing funds for that purpose – now targeted for elimination -- amount to less than 1.5 percent of the current federal transportation outlay. A policy of giving federal support only to “complete streets” that are designed for the safety of people on foot or bicycle as well as in cars would cost next to nothing.
Tell Congress: it's no time to start cutting funding that helps keep pedestrians safe.
Thank you for helping fix our transportation system to make it safe, reliable, and accessible for everyone!
Thank you for helping fix our transportation system to make it safe, reliable, and accessible for everyone!
Stephen Lee Davis
Deputy Communications Director
Transportation for America
Deputy Communications Director
Transportation for America
Read our new report, Dangerous by Design, at t4america.org/resources/
And a map of Complete Streets policies across the country: http://www.completestreets.
And a map of Complete Streets policies across the country: http://www.completestreets.
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