BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― A new study ranks Maryland and the Baltimore area among the worst when it comes to pedestrian and bicycling safety.
Derek Valcourt has details on the study and why some question its findings.
Johns Hopkins student Miriam Frankl was killed by a driver while crossing the road, Chuck Yates, 67, was run over by a truck as he rode his bike through Baltimore and a 20-year-old ballet dancer was struck and killed as she was trying to cross Rt. 24 in Harford County.
The horrible headlines have become all too common and, according to a new study by Transportation for America, pedestrians and bicyclists make up 19.4% of Maryland’s traffic-related deaths. That study labels the Baltimore/Towson area as the 29th most dangerous metropolitan area in the nation for both walkers and bikers. That’s no surprise to many Baltimore natives.
“I’ve almost gotten hit down here and I’ve been working down here for over 10 years, at least three times trying to cross the street,” said Carolyn Winder.
The study examines the amount of money being spent on pedestrian safety in Maryland. It ranks the state as second worst in the nation, spending only six-tenths of one percent of its total federal transportation funds on bicycling and walking projects.
State highway officials fault the study for only looking at federal dollars and not looking at how state dollars are spent, and they say more federal dollars are going toward pedestrian improvements than the study indicates.
“We’re really probably a leader in the pack if you look at all of our spending and the whole picture,” said Valerie Burnette Edgar, State Highway Administration.
[Baltimore Spokes: I can not emphasize enough the absurdity of the above statement, imagine going to a doctor to review your progress on your diet and he asks you how much money you have spent on diet food. And he responds you are making great progress as you are spending a lot on diet food. And you are thinking but I gained 100 lbs how is this good progress? Similarly Maryland’s pedestrian fatality rate is now the 6th worst per FARS. Road safety is a lot like a diet as it requires a proper mix of a variety of items and some of those are very low cost items. In rearguards to supporting a variety of items for road safety Maryland is an epic failure. It’s not about how much you are spending it’s about results and how smart you are with spending.]
“I think the report does have some methodological problems to it, but the point is well taken that we need to be doing a lot more in terms of pedestrian safety,” said City Transportation Deputy Director Jamie Kendricks.
[Baltimore Spokes: While I applaud the efforts the City is doing what Federal Aid money I can trace to Baltimore has been Federally earmark funds. That is to say we had to do an end run around the State to bypass the State not following recommend Federal policies in administering Federal Funds. And the absurd bit is now this counts as the State spending funds on our behalf.]
State highway officials say they plan to spend more than $113 million in bicycle and pedestrian improvements over the next five years.
City officials say they’ve already added 45 miles of bike paths in Baltimore and have plans to add another 60 miles of bike lanes next year.
[Baltimore Spokes: Here’s a novel idea; (just to name one) how about also enforcing crosswalk laws? As I said it’s about supporting a variety of items for road safety.and not what is being spent, not mention some things are very low cost.]
Continue reading “Study: Baltimore Unsafe For Pedestrians, Cyclists”
