Tag: car crashes

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No Comparison Between Covid-19 And Traffic Deaths

Almost 40,000 traffic fatalities each year is an ongoing, catastrophic national health issue.  This week President Trump made the comparison between vehicular crash fatalities and the Corona Virus, asserting that traffic deaths are the cost of keeping the economy alive.
The president isn’t the only one making this comparison. Other legislators and administrators as well as news outlets have continued this false narrative.

Trump Says COVID-19 Deaths May Be the Price We Pay For A Strong Economy — Just Like Traffic Deaths

Deadly car crashes are not the price we must pay to sustain our civilization. Neither are coronavirus deaths.

By Kea Wilson

“Trump’s comment followed an equally jaw-droppingly callous statement by Wisconsin Senator and Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson a week earlier.”

“We don’t shut down our economy because tens of thousands of people die on the highways,” told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on March 18 in a discussion about the impact of coronavirus on the national economy. “It’s a risk we accept so we can move about.”

Read the article:

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2020/03/24/trump-says-covid-19-deaths-may-be-the-price-pay-for-a-strong-economy-just-like-traffic-deaths/

 

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World Day Of Remembrance: To Honor The Victims Of Traffic Violence

On World Day of Remembrance, we honor the victims of traffic violence. The third Sunday in November is about remembrance, but EVERY day is about action: we need to prioritize #safety over #speed & design our streets to protect the people most vulnerable to crashes.

More than 1.35 million people die on the road each year globally.

 

 

Road traffic injuries

Key facts

  • Approximately 1.35 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes.
  • The2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has set an ambitious target of halving the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2020.
  • Road traffic crashes cost most countries 3% of their gross domestic product.
  • More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
  • 93% of the world’s fatalities on the roads occur in low- and middle-income countries, even though these countries have approximately 60% of the world’s vehicles.
  • Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years.
Read more…
https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries

 

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Is Your City Too Car-Friendly?

Question: Among our readers, who, like me learned to drive at a time when we were taught that pedestrians had the right of way? I was taught when I was behind the wheel that I had the awesome right and responsibility to drive a huge metal engine-powered machine, and I had to look out for those more vulnerable on the road. Things seem to have changed. Right now we can see daily reports from cities everywhere of drivers involved in hit and run, and other fatal crashes with people walking and riding bikes, in which drivers are getting away with “failure to yield”, or “reckless driving”. (Police reports say: “She came out of nowhere.”  “I didn’t see him.” Or even more ridiculous, “He/she wasn’t wearing a helmet.”)

We’re in the midst of a crisis of an health crisis of vaping. There have been 13 fatalities to date, and may be more to come. It’s a serious problem and it’s in the news every day.  But we don’t see a similar response to car crash deaths that occur daily by the hundreds and yearly by tens of thousands! The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that in 2018, 40,000 people died in car crashes (and almost the same number deaths from guns, but that’s another discussion). We have normalized car-related deaths as built-in to our dependence on driving.  The US can do so much better, and things are beginning to change -very gradually. It takes time to change a culture. Cities like Asbury Park are making strides to create streets that are safe for everyone, especially the most vulnerable – walking, riding bikes, pushing strollers, navigating wheelchairs, and yes, scooters too. (Check out scooter education on Sunday 9/29!)  Watch for continued improvements to infrastructure all over Asbury Park with the goal is to increase availability, convenience, and safety of micro mobility, and reduce car dependency, as it becomes less convenient and less desirable to drive.

 

Cyclist Deaths Are Exploding Because U.S. Cities Are Car-Friendly Death Traps

Bike-related fatalities are up 25 percent across the U.S. since 2010.

 

By Jada Butler; illustrated by Hunter French
Sep 6 2019

In 2019, more and more cities across America are encouraging their residents to commute by bicycle. Cycling, of course, is good for the environment in terms of reducing pollution from car-dominant streets, and it’s a healthier way to travel.

But cities gaining new cyclists are quickly, tragically finding that they do not have the proper infrastructure to keep them safe. Cyclist fatalities have gone up 25 percent across the U.S. since 2010, and up 10 percent in 2018 itself, while all other traffic fatalities have decreased.

Read more…

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/a35e9p/cyclist-bike-deaths-are-exploding-because-us-cities-are-car-friendly-death-traps?utm_campaign=sharebutton

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Asbury Park, Let’s Keep Up The Good Work in 2019

“The U.S. is an outlier both in terms of road deaths and gun deaths, the analysis shows.”

The horrendous statistics make it clear that the US has to take a serious look at the car culture and make big changes. #slowthecars This can happen one city at a time. Let’s keep up the good work protecting the city’s most vulnerable road users in 2019, Asbury Park. 

“The rate of death from motor vehicle crashes among U.S. children and adolescents was the highest observed among high-income countries; the U.S. rate was more than triple the overall rate observed in 12 other developed countries…”

America’s Car Culture is Literally Shortening Your Life: Study

 

Guns kill twice as many kids as cancer does, new study shows

“The United States is clearly not effectively protecting its children,” the journal’s editor writes.
By Maggie Fox
“Guns are the second leading killer of U.S. kids, after car crashes, according to a new report published Wednesday.”

“…just over 20,000 children died in the U.S. last year, most of them from injuries of some sort. They found 4,074 children died in road deaths, 3,143 from firearms and 1,853 from cancer.”

“Motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for children and adolescents, representing 20 percent of all deaths; firearm-related injuries were the second leading cause of death, responsible for 15 percent of deaths,” they wrote.”

Read about it:

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/guns-kill-twice-many-kids-cancer-does-new-study-shows-n950091