NHTSA Pedestrian Safety Facts

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Photo courtesy of www.watchformenc.org

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is out with its annual report on pedestrian safety (or rather, lack thereof), and has put together a helpful fact sheet that outlines some of the key findings from its evaluation of traffic crashes involving pedestrians in 2013.

There aren't many big surprises (children and seniors are disproportionately hurt or killed while walking, alcohol plays a role in many pedestrian crashes, more people are hit at night), but a couple things struck me:

• Over two-thirds of pedestrian fatalities were men. It's hard to say why this is. I suspect one reason is that men walk more at night, whereas many women wouldn't feel safe doing so. Irony.
• California, Texas and Florida have the most pedestrian fatalities. They also have the most people, so that's not especially surprising. On the other hand, those are all states with large Hispanic populations, who tend to walk more--and thus run more risk of being hit by cars (especially if they're living in poorer neighborhoods without good pedestrian infrastructure).
•  Nearly 70 percent of fatalities happened at "non-intersections." There are still many people who would argue that this means pedestrians were "jaywalking"--and thus at least partially culpable for the crash. Hopefully we're moving toward a time when we recognize that poor street design, not people asserting their rights to use public space, is the real problem.

You can read through the full fact sheet here.

Strategic Framework for Increasing Walking in California

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California Walks is building support for its Strategic Framework for a walkable California. A collaborative effort of the advocates from across the state, the Framework outlines some ambitious goals for California, including:

• By 2020, every California walks at least 30 minutes each day
• By 2020, deaths and serious injuries among seniors and children who walk are reduced by half
• By 2016, California adopts a Vision Zero policy to eliminate traffic fatalities in 10 years
• By 2020, Active Transportation Program Funding is tripled

With five years or less to achieve this vision, California Walks will need plenty of help. You can help spread the word about the Strategic Framework and volunteer for one of the Action Teams here.

Newest self-driving prototype has built-in crosswalk

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Photo courtesy Mercedes-Benz

 

 

Mercedes-Benz is getting a lot of buzz for introducing the "F 015 Luxury in Motion" concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Debates over the appeal of the vehicles' look aside (Wired describes them as "bars of soap on the outside and sleek, vaguely European conference rooms inside"), the cars--do we still call them cars?--represent yet another step toward what many now see as an inevitable future where computers do all the driving.

 

Is this good for pedestrians?

 

I've long said that the safety benefits of driverless vehicles outweigh any potential costs. Driverless cars don't get drunk or distracted by their cell phones. Not only do they recognize and react to a pedestrian in front of them, the Mercedes model can even project a real-time crosswalk and pleasantly direct the person to cross. Forget safety, imagine the cost savings in crosswalk paint.

 

There is a potential downside, of course. Driverless cars will make driving easier and more appealing, and that could lead to an even more auto-dominated streetscape. Cars provide amazing mobility, but they don't over the health and social benefits that active transportation does. As we move toward a time when cars do their own driving, we need to take care that "car potato" doesn't become the new "couch potato."