Month: January 2007

An excerpt from BikeWalk.org newsletter (Centerlines #166):

By Bob Chauncey

We are a growing alliance of organizations and individuals seeking to
end the acceptance of over 40,000 traffic deaths a year in the United States. We are outraged at the common belief that traffic crashes are
unavoidable “accidents” and are combining our forces to stop these
unacceptable and predictable crashes.

The Traffic Justice movement will be based on four defining principles.

1. The primary goal of our transportation system must be the prevention
of traffic crashes. We believe the traditional emphasis of US
transportation and safety agencies on making crashes safer through
technology has failed to achieve reductions in injuries and fatalities
on a par with the crash prevention efforts in other countries.

2. We offer instead the principle of Traffic Justice — the expectation
of just and accountable conduct of all participants in our
transportation system. Our initiatives will require that drivers, car
manufacturers, road designers, elected officials, law enforcers,
community planners and others take specific actions toward preventing
traffic crashes. For example, some of the traffic justice changes we
are working toward would:

– require drivers to comply with all traffic laws and thereby hold
drivers fully accountable for their actions;

– require the installation of event data recorders and other law
enforcement technologies into cars and trucks to support the adherence
of traffic laws;

– require roads to be designed and built to dramatically reduce
speeding, while safely accommodating pedestrians and bicyclists;

– restrict any promotion of dangerous driving;

– assist in the passage of laws extending the privilege of driving only
to those who have not abused it;

– require law enforcement agencies to assign traffic law enforcement a
priority consistent with the importance of preventing traffic crashes
in the communities they serve;

– encourage community leaders to support developments likely to yield
shorter trips, fewer trips, and more walking, biking and public transit
to complete these trips.

Continue reading “TRAFFIC JUSTICE UPDATE”