The eyes have it.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) wants to pedestrians to make eye contact with drivers before crossing the road. So much so, that they dressed staffers up in large eyeball costumes and sent them out to the streets to prove the point.
A press release further drives home the point:
Of the 1,433 pedestrian-related crashes and fatalities in Colorado last year, approximately 60% of drivers were at fault, leaving pedestrians at fault 40% of the time; a statistical reminder that everyone on the road can help prevent pedestrian-related crashes. This week, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) announces a pedestrian safety campaign targeted at both drivers and pedestrians. The campaign employs the tagline “Awkward Eye Contact Saves Lives – Heads Up At Crosswalks” and incorporates media placements around the state where awkward eye contact tends to occur, i.e. bathroom stalls.
Dan Daru reported on the new traffic safety campaign, with additional footage for television of people dressed with large eye masks on their heads demonstrating the CDOT's recommended behavior for crossing the street.
Read the full story: CDOT encourages pedestrians to make eye contact for their safety
Analysis: Bigger cars are responsible for 10% of increase in pedestrian deaths
The New York Times offers a visual explanation of how larger vehicles make US roads more dangerous.
Memphis is the nation's most dangerous city for pedestrians
Memphis had the highest rate of traffic deaths for people walking in the US for two years in a row.
Hoboken's $20 Vision Zero fix
The New Jersey city eliminated traffic deaths for the last nine years in a row.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority