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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/safer-streets-painted-intersections-crosswalk-art/>
"Thirteen-year-old Michael Weilert did everything just as his mother had taught
him. He pressed the button to activate a blinking pedestrian signal at Pacific
Avenue in Parkland, Washington. He waited until the first car stopped at the
intersection before entering the crosswalk on his bike. Then, a young woman in
a Jeep Wrangler failed to yield and struck the boy, killing him.
Here is the sad truth: Crosswalks don’t work. According to various studies,
only between five and fifteen percent of drivers slow down at pedestrian
crossings. The vast majority of drivers simply don’t pay attention to them.
Given their ineffectiveness, it’s surprising that city planners rely on these
unassuming white stripes to keep us safe from cars — particularly since
America’s streets just keep getting deadlier: 42,915 people died in traffic
crashes in 2021, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, a 16-year-high and a 10.5 percent increase from 2020. The risk
for pedestrians keeps rising even more, with an unprecedented year-on-year rise
in deaths in 2021.
These deadly collisions are worst in low-income communities, which are less
likely to have safe sidewalks, street crossings or recreational walking areas.
A recent report titled “Dangerous by Design” by the Washington nonprofit Smart
Growth America, which advocates for equitable urban planning, mainly blames the
way those roads are designed — which is to say, for speed, with wide lanes and
scant pedestrian infrastructure. A simple truth is: The wider the lanes, the
higher the speed, and US cities have plenty of wide lanes that invite drivers
to hit the pedal."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
