The Governor's Highway Safety Association released a report citing an uptick in pedestrian fatalities in the first half of 2010 and speculates on all sorts of reasons for this except poor road design.
David Alpert writes about coverage of the GHSA report in the Washington Post and Examiner, which he says "reveal the intense windshield perspective still pervasive in mainstream media":
The GHSA report speculates that increased pedestrian fatalities are result of all sorts of trends like distracted driving and walking, or even efforts to get more people walking like First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign. What's not discussed is the fact that the rate of fatalities may be falling and the all-too-infrequently discussed root cause that our streets are not designed to accommodate pedestrians:
"It's easy to blame iPods or Michelle Obama, but more important to work to make the roadway network actually usable by pedestrians. That's the real way to improve both the numbers of people walking and their safety."
Thanks to Erik Weber
Read the full story: Maryland road safety head, Post's Halsey blame pedestrians and even Michelle Obama for fatalities
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