{"id":288787144,"date":"2014-02-25T10:39:04","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T10:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=288787144"},"modified":"2014-02-25T10:39:04","modified_gmt":"2014-02-25T10:39:04","slug":"why-clearing-sidewalks-isnt-a-priority-like-plowing-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=288787144","title":{"rendered":"Why Clearing Sidewalks Isn\u2019t a Priority Like Plowing Streets"},"content":{"rendered":"

B’ Spokes: First some Maryland data to put this in context.<\/p>\n

Where Maryland stands compared to other states with their pedestrian fatality rate.
\n<\/b><\/big>
\n\"image\"
\nhttps:\/\/www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov\/<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

How Maryland pedestrian fatalities by month rank for pedestrian fatalities.
\n<\/b><\/big><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Month<\/th>\n2008<\/th>\n2009<\/th>\n2010<\/th>\n2011<\/th>\n2012<\/th>\nAVG.<\/th>\n%<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
December<\/th>\n14<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n11<\/td>\n11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
January<\/th>\n14<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n9.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
September<\/th>\n9<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n9.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
November<\/th>\n9<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n11<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n9.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
October<\/th>\n8<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n8.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
February<\/th>\n12<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n8.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
May<\/th>\n5<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n8.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
June<\/th>\n4<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n8.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
April<\/th>\n8<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n7.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
July<\/th>\n7<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n7.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
August<\/th>\n6<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n6.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
March<\/th>\n10<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n5.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fatal Crashes<\/th>\n106<\/td>\n110<\/td>\n97<\/td>\n103<\/td>\n95<\/td>\n102<\/td>\n100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

https:\/\/mhso.mva.maryland.gov\/TrafficSafetyData\/_benchmarkreports\/PedestOnFootBR-12Aug1-13.pdf<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

It seems to me that Maryland has a winter time pedestrian problem.
\n<\/b><\/big><\/p>\n

\n

by Angie Schmitt, Streets Blog<\/p>\n

If where you live is anything like where I live, the sidewalks are a mess right now. People are walking in the streets and getting summarily blamed by the press<\/a> when a driver injures them.<\/p>\n

Plows are out all night salting and scraping the streets, but sidewalks are a private responsibility, and compliance with shoveling laws is haphazard enough to make mixing with SUVs seem like the best option for a lot of pedestrians.<\/p>\n

To their credit, community leaders in Akron, Ohio, have been debating how to keep children safe when they walk to school. On his blog Notes from the Underground<\/a>, Jason Segedy, head of Akron\u2019s metropolitan planning organization, AMATS, wrote about the relative lack of concern for kids who walk:<\/p>\n

\n

The immediate, specific, and tactical answer to the question of \u201cWhy don\u2019t we make safe and accessible sidewalks a priority?\u201d has to do with a panoply of thorny and interrelated fiscal, legal, and property issues.<\/p>\n

But the holistic, general, and strategic answer to that question is simply this: our culture does not value or respect people on foot the way that it does people behind the wheels of cars. To be clear, this cultural orientation is not the result of conscious antipathy toward pedestrians, or an intentional organized conspiracy to disenfranchise or disrespect the marginalized and the poor. Instead, it\u2019s simply the way that our society has evolved over the past 60 years, as the automobile has achieved near complete dominance as a mode of transportation \u2013 at least for the affluent majority.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I discuss this issue with people all of the time, and often hear people say \u201cWhy waste the time or money on this? No one walks anyway.\u201d My translation: \u201cI don\u2019t walk anywhere, no one that I know walks anywhere, and since I occupy a place of privilege in society, I really don\u2019t notice anyone that does walk.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to being patently false, the generalization \u201cno one walks anyway\u201d misses the point entirely.  Social equity and fairness in transportation is not about a tunnel-vision view of the needs of the majority that drives, considered in a vacuum; but rather, about looking out for the needs of the minority that does not drive.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

…<\/p>\n

https:\/\/streetsblog.net\/2014\/02\/19\/why-clearing-sidewalks-isnt-a-priority-like-plowing-streets\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

B’ Spokes: First some Maryland data to put this in context. Where Maryland stands compared to other states with their pedestrian fatality rate. https:\/\/www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov\/ How Maryland pedestrian fatalities by month rank for pedestrian fatalities. Month 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 AVG. % December 14 9 9 14 10 11 11 January 14 8 9 10 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Why Clearing Sidewalks Isn\u2019t a Priority Like Plowing Streets”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-288787144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biking-elsewhere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288787144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=288787144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288787144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=288787144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=288787144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=288787144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}