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Big Deal: How Traffic Speeds Are Set

This is a big deal to begin making effective change in slowing traffic speeds and saving lives. #slowthecars.  First, we need to understand how traffic speeds have been set by the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD) . On any given street or road speed limits have been set according to the highest speed of 15% of drivers in free flowing conditions. “85th percentile rule,” which pegs the speed limit on any particular roadway to the speeds of the fastest 15 percent of drivers in “free-flowing conditions.” So if 85 percent of the drivers stay below 40 miles per hour and 15 percent of drivers exceed it, that becomes the speed limit, even if 40 miles per hour is a bit too fast for that roadway.  The new language requires other criteria are used — like the presence of pedestrians — in setting speed limits, in addition to the 85th percentile rule.

Engineering Group Takes on High Speed Limits

By Angie Schmitt 

Read about it:

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/01/18/engineering-group-helps-battle-high-speed-limits/

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Martin Luther King – America’s Cities – Asbury Park

Asbury Park is experiencing a time of change. Some call it a Renaissance, some call renewal, or revitalization.  Whatever the adjectives, we believe that Asbury Park is working on becoming a city that puts people first. A city that is striving to make streets safe, and housing equitable.  A city that wants tomake it possible for children to attain the best education, and possible for residents to maintain homes and businesses.  Asbury Park has had it’s dark times. But with the commitment of the good citizens of the city, and Mayor and City Council exhibiting responsible, good governance we are making great strides. ”

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
Onward.

The Crisis in America’s Cities

Martin Luther King Jr. on what sparked the violent urban riots of the “long hot summer” of 1967

Read it:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/martin-luther-king-jr-the-crisis-in-americas-cities/552536/

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Sunday Funny Video “The Manly Car”

Hey guys. Can you admit that you’re influenced by car ads? The automotive industry thinks you are. Ads targeting men have been working since the 1920s when manufacturers realized that just touting the engineering of a car wasn’t working as well to sell them. They gradually began to sexualize ads (and the cars themselves), and in doing so, they realized that they were successful appealing to a male stereotype.  Car ads have been working and we can see the result in the way roads have been designed, and the prevalence traffic and crashes.

BBC’s Spoof Ads Slam Automobiles as Man-Wombs, Winkies, Silly-Little-Me-Wagons

Carlton Reid Jan 19, 2019

For the multi-billion-dollar automobile industry a car for the typical man, imagines Barker channeling thousands of automobile adverts, has to be “sleek, fast, hard … imposing to other men.”

His Serious Car advert – “All Car, All Man, All Man Car. Car of Man. Manly car. Man. Men. Me” – appeared in the first series of The Damien Slash Mixtape, broadcast in 2017, and in the second series has now been joined by a version spoofing muscular off-road motor vehicles that never leave asphalt:

“It was observing my relationship with driving that gave me the idea for the joke. I noticed the tragic puffed-up fantasy identity I was adopting as I was driving, where does it come from? I thought how absurd it was to generate a sense of masculinity from a glorified cart, how absurd our relationship is with these enormous, asinine, polluting machines that have become a form of clothing as much as they are a form of transport.”

Nevertheless, he admits to having a “car addiction.”

He said: “I own two classic 5-liter V8s, for maximum self-loathing.”

Read more and watch:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2019/01/19/bbcs-spoof-ads-slam-automobiles-as-man-wombs-winkies-silly-little-me-wagons/#108931be5bbe

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Bike Lanes Are The Best Fix For Traffic Congestion

Cities are at peak car.  Traffic congestion and crashes are a constant issue.  It’s been shown over and over that adding bike lanes (and walking infrastructure) is a cheap and easy fix in large cities like Toronto, and in small cities it’s even easier.  Let’s commit to bike infrastructure. We’ll patiently wait for naysayers and car addicts to calm down as traffic eases and crashes are reduced.

Bike lanes prove that transportation solutions can be cheap and effective

By EDWARD KEENANStar Columnist
Fri., Jan. 11, 2019

Read about it…

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2019/01/11/bike-lanes-prove-that-transportation-solutions-can-be-cheap-and-effective.html

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Drivers Are NOT Paying Attention

Texting will be a thing of the past with new, larger dashboard screens. Cars are being designed to feel like being an a living room. Luxury is the focus. This is WORSE.

Study: 60 per cent of people read texts on their mobile phones while driving, and 88 per cent eat, drink or smoke behind the wheel. And most motorists – as many as 92 per cent – admit they are not even thinking about driving as they hit the road.

Sending texts, daydreaming: What drivers are really doing behind the wheel

Read about it:

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/sending-texts-daydreaming-what-drivers-are-really-doing-behind-the-wheel-20181219-p50n4q.html

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Journalists Covering Car Crashes Absolve The Driver

The Columbia Journalism Review report explains how the media (and thereby police) fail to properly cover traffic collisions.

#CRASHNOTACCIDENT

“A middle-aged man was fatally struck by a truck.” If we read traffic crash reporting articles more critically, we can see a pattern.  The report avoids naming the driver of the vehicle, or may not refer to any driver at all.  Very often the incident is described in terms that presuppose innocence on the part of the driver, with built-in excuses such as, “it was dark and the pedestrian was not wearing reflective clothing.”  This contributes to the worsening problem of traffic injuries and fatalities, and car culture: that roads were designed for and belong to cars.

When covering car crashes, be careful not to blame the victim

By Meg Dalton, APRIL 4, 2018

“She ran into traffic. He was wearing dark clothing. They didn’t use the crosswalk. In the aftermath of crashes between drivers and vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, there’s a tendency to blame the victim. It’s just one way the media fails to properly cover traffic collisions, according to a new report from MacEwan University”

Read about it:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/when-covering-car-crashes-be-careful-not-to-blame-the-victim.php

 

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Rutgers Report: How Does Crash Reporting Influence The Reader?

Neglecting to name a driver of a vehicle, or to describe an incident with details of negligence on the part of the victim perpetuates car culture, and the increasing numbers  of traffic injuries and deaths of the most vulnerable road users.

Language and Perception matters.  What are crash report articles really saying?

“Inclusion or exclusion of an agent affects perception of
blame. Sentences with agents make the actions of the
perpetrator clear and reduce victim blaming.”

EDITORIAL PATTERNS IN BICYCLIST AND PEDESTRIAN CRASH REPORTING

Kelcie Ralph | Rutgers
Evan Iacobucci | Rutgers
Calvin Thigpen | Lime
Tara Goddard | Texas A&M

“Around one fifth of the 37,000 annual traffic deaths in the United States are
bicyclists or pedestrians. Despite this figure, there is little public outcry about
these vulnerable road user (VRU) deaths. Media coverage has been shown to shape public perceptions in other fields, primarily by signaling which topics merit attention (agenda-setting) and by infuencing how those issues are
interpreted (framing). This study examines how local news outlets report car crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists.”

Read the report:

Editorial Patterns in Bicyclist and Pedestrian Crash Reporting

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Media Absolves Drivers In Crash Reporting

Yesterday a tweet from a local newspaper article described a traffic fatality saying “a man was killed when struck by a truck.” The victim was named, with lots of background information, but nothing about the driver of the truck. There is a distinct presumption of innocence. This is typical reporting of most traffic incidents. The victim may also be  described as not wearing reflective clothing, not wearing a helmet, walking outside a crosswalk, “jaywalking” (Jaywalking was invented to make way for cars), not paying attention, or the worst excuses: “she came or of nowhere”, or “I didn’t see him”.

How Coverage of Pedestrian Fatalities Dehumanizes Victims and Absolves Drivers

By Angie Schmitt 

A pedestrian rule breaker crossing outside of an intersection.

Use of passive voice

Press accounts tend to use the passive voice when describing traffic fatalities. As in, “A pedestrian was hit by a car.” Only three out of 71 articles used the active voice. How Coverage of Pedestrian Fatalities Dehumanizes Victims and Absolves Drivers

The passive voice “conveys subtle messages about blame and responsibility,” writes Magusin, “distancing the driver from the act.” And that affects the way people perceive events and assign culpability.

 

 

 

 

 

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Well-Known Musician Ken Sorensen “Stringbean” Says Streets Are For People

Kenny Sorensen, the talented and well-known musician has been advocating for safe infrastructure for bicycling for years. This is his letter to the editor of the Asbury Park Press. A road diet can be the solution. “While New Jersey traffic fatalities have declined slightly, pedestrian and bicycle deaths have sharply increased. This is a trend nationwide. More pedestrians and bicyclists are being killed and injured by cars than ever before.” #slowthecars Learn more…

Public streets not just for car owners: Sorensen

Ken Sorensen Jan. 11, 2019

Public streets should be for everyone, not just car owners. Our friends in Asbury Park Complete Streets have been successful in implementing a “road diet” on Main Street in Asbury Park. This current project converts four lanes of traffic to a three-lane configuration with a turning lane and bike lanes. It’s much safer for motorists and pedestrians. A road diet is a design tool that reverses six decades of road design focused solely on cars at the expense of pedestrians’ safety and general quality of life.

Read more…

https://www.app.com/story/opinion/columnists/2019/01/11/pedestrian-bike-safety-neptune/2540030002/

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Pedestrian Rule Breakers

Every day we hear complaints about Jaywalkers. And almost every day we read articles about people walking dangerously, whether distracted, or walking against a signal, or crossing at unmarked intersections. We’ve covered this in several posts, like here,  here, and here.  Check out this article and click the links to learn more.

Research Explains Why Pedestrians ‘Break the Rules’

By Angie Schmitt 

When pedestrians are hurt or injured, there’s a reflexive impulse in America to blame them, for jaywalking, or for being distracted.

But Smith’s videos found pedestrians’ behavior is influenced a lot by the environment: They’re more likely engage in risky behavior — like walking or rolling in the street or crossing mid-block — when the pedestrian infrastructure is incomplete or lacking.

Read more…

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/01/07/research-explains-why-pedestrians-break-the-rules/